Hi all! This chapter is not only unusually long, but also pretty heavy. I'm sorry for that in advance. I also want to assure everyone that this isn't the end of the story! Not yet. Please don't hesitate to share any feedback or ideas you might have with me when you're done!
Relief poured through her. "Thank God… Dark," she whispered tearfully.
She felt a jolt and heard the thud of boots on plywood as her savior landed. Her disorganized senses told her they hadn't flown more than a few feet; that they must still be on the stage. The arms released her carelessly, and she found herself flailing back onto her butt. "Gently-!" she started to scold, when her rising gaze suddenly locked onto vibrant, golden irises. She froze beneath those yellow orbs, as if a lion were glaring down at her. "…Krad?" she whispered.
The angel frowned from his position over her, his solemn gaze impossible for Risa to interpret. His wings arched upward. Preparing. Warning. When he spoke, it was like an icy chill passing straight through her soul.
"Run."
-o0o0oOOOOOOOOOo0o0o-
Part 42 – Black Wings
Risa's breath fluttered in and out of her chest as she stared at the angel that had just saved her life. Krad had just saved her life.
And Dark had just tried to kill her.
Her soul wanted to ache, but she didn't let it. Looking up at the gold-white being standing over her, she knew this moment wasn't about her. This was about Dark and Krad. It had always been about Dark and Krad, but it had been denied, so many times. Inconvenience or human interruption had delayed it again and again, but in the end, this fight had been inevitable since the instant they were both created.
"Krad," she barely breathed, "Please don't kill him."
The angel turned and walked past her, ignoring her plea. Every nerve in his body was thrumming in reaction to Dark's magic. Gorudo was turning toward him from the center of the stage. The man looked amused. That pissed Krad off.
"Seems you are no longer putting on any pretenses for your stakeholders," he observed.
"It no longer matters. I have no use for humans. I am something greater. You should understand that much, right, Krad Hikari? After all, we are the same in this regard."
The angel's eyes narrowed on the man wearing Dark's body like a costume. "Do not compare yourself with me," he snorted, forming a spell in the cup of his hand.
"Looking for more already?" Gorudo said in Dark's voice. "I could swear I just wiped the floor with you yesterday."
"Shut up and fight," Krad hissed.
The billionaire scoffed. "Why expend the effort myself?" He reached up and snapped his fingers. His Special Ops staff rushed up from the corners of the stage, weapons raising to aim on the Hikari. Shouts emerged from what remained of the crowd as they struggled to understand what was happening. Many of the reporters who had started fleeing before, when Gorudo fired into the throng, were now stopping to stare back at the angels from a "safer" distance. Cameras clicked and flashed around the stage while Gorudo's men took aim.
A round of gunfire silenced the air. Krad dropped low to the pavement. A bullet caught the outer edge of his calf, cutting into the bandage on his bad leg. The pain made him alert.
"Freeze and cease fire!" shouted a police officer from the edge of the stage. His men gathered behind him, regrouped for a second attempt to control the fight. They seemed confused about whether to aim for Gorudo's men or for the angels. The Special Ops, however, weren't as hesitant. They pulled their fire toward the new threat without hesitation.
The blonde shoved back to his feet and threw his arms wide. He fired a burst of white energy from each hand. The blasts bowled into Gorudo's men just before they fired on the police. Scanning their faces, Krad's gaze caught on the one officer he now recognized as Kouga. The cop and his team still seemed to be absorbing the fact that Gorudo's guards had just tried to kill them.
"Stand down," Krad directed the order to Kouga icily. He didn't bother to see if they complied, nor did he care. His attention shifted to Gorudo. Dark's power was brooding between them like an electric storm. It was intoxicating, exhilarating, and positively infuriating all at the same time. It was Dark's effect on him, and he was beyond holding it back.
He pulled a feather loose from his wing and held it in front of him with both hands. The white fronds burst into flame, building in size until the spell took up a two-foot diameter in front of him. "No more distractions. No more tricks," he snarled, his voice glowing with power. "Take me, if you can." He hurled the spell at his counterpart.
Gorudo threw his arms up in a costly energy shield around himself. The force pounded him back across the stage and sent him tumbling in a blur of violet, but the scalding power never made it to his skin. Before Krad could even make out whether the attack had hit, a return spell beamed into him like a sledgehammer to the chest. Krad slammed backwards into the soft form of Risa, who apparently hadn't taken his advice to run. She shrieked as he knocked her over and came down on her heavily.
"Damn it," the angel wheezed, scrambling away from her and back to his feet brusquely. He grazed his fingers across his chest, checking for blood. As soon as his balance was steady again, he launched up into the air.
Risa clenched her eyes against the blinding wind as the blonde took off. When she eased them open again, Gorudo was readying himself to pursue from the opposite side of the stage. "Wait! Dark!" she screamed, climbing to her knees. Her words failed to stop the dark angel from launching after his nemesis.
She cringed as she saw them lock together up above her. Black and white power flickered between the paranormal beings like a fireworks display. Then, still ripping into each other, they shot off in a hectic line along the edge of the park, where sheer cliffs towered over the rocky shore below.
Risa's eyes bristled with tears. Dark had been in control, for just a minute, but now he was gone again. As she watched the winged forms disappear behind the nearby trees, a sense of dread chilled through her. She had the awful feeling she would never get to speak to him again.
"Risa!" Riku shouted from in front of the stage. The brunette flinched at the sound of her sister's voice, forcing her gaze away from the skyline. Hattori was standing next to Rise, staring at the battle racing above them.
"Is everyone alright?" Satoshi demanded, jogging up to the edge of the stage.
"Commander! How did you both get loose?" Demanded Kouga. The police commander now looked thoroughly out of his element and uncertain how to lead his team. He pointed his gun at the bluenette half-heartedly.
Satoshi took a thorough study of the officer he'd trained, decided there was no way the man was prepared to shoot him, and ignored him. "We need to follow them," he said to Risa and Riku. "Is anyone hurt?"
Kouga bristled at the way the boy single-mindedly collected his friends to leave. "Hey. You're still under arrest."
"If you're going to shoot me, shoot!" Satoshi threw back. His cold voice was fierce and impatient – a tone the cop had never heard from his commander before. The boy seemed worked up. Worried. Well, who wouldn't be?
"Let's go," Risa confirmed as she jumped down next to them. She pushed her emotions under control and concentrated on taking action.
"I'll stay back," Riku said, lifting her crutches at her sides. "I'll slow you down with these, and I'm worried about Daisuke.
"Be careful," Satoshi said back. He turned to run after Risa and Hattori, who were already pushing through the crowd to head across the field in the direction the angels had flown.
-o0o0OO0o0o—
Krad grunted as a tanned fist slammed into his stomach. His insides protested the continued abuse. He caught the billionaire's arm and trapped it before sending a burst of energy straight into the other man's gut. Gorudo just smirked, unnaturally comfortable. The black angel grabbed Krad's shoulder with his free hand and drove his knee up into the blonde's chin. He kicked off Krad's chest like one would kick off the side of a swimming pool, putting space between them.
The blonde hung back in the air, working to catch his breath while the warm coastal wind whipped around them both. His pulse writhed in his chest like it wanted out. Like it knew about the one-way train wreck this fight was destined for. Nothing was holding them back this time, and they both knew it. He'd wanted this moment his entire existence. He'd even elevated it in his mind to a form of glorious ritual. Now that the moment had come, he was mostly only aware of adrenaline and pain. He'd always planned to destroy Dark face to face, rather than from behind the wall of a wing host. Still, that didn't change the fact that there was no turning back from it this time.
"Is this everything you hoped it would be, Hikari?" Gorudo sneered.
"And more," the blonde snapped.
"What a relief. My wing host doesn't seem to believe you'd have the guts to see it through to the end."
Krad's bronze glare stiffened on the violet-haired man. "He what?" the shock in his voice was real. Rage boiled through him. The thief would pay for underestimating him.
In a blur of feathers, he tackled Gorudo in midair and blasted him point-blank in the chest. Black wings jerked backward as power shot through the angel's body. Krad didn't give him time to recover. He hovered just over his opponent and sent a blast down across Gorudo's shoulders. The black-winged form careened downward. Krad followed his nemesis down and down, knowing he had him. Dark's body hit the ground like a ragdoll and skidded through the dirt.
Krad barely felt the ground under his feet as he walked toward his enemy. Gorudo twisted stiffly onto his side to try and pull the air back into his lungs. The angel didn't give him the time to succeed. He threw a pale arm out to his side and summoned a ball of golden light in his palm. "Now it finally ends, Mousy," he said. He stood over the prostrate angel, drinking in the moment, and aimed the spell at the center of his chest. Nothing living, not even Dark, could survive what he was about to fire through his rival's heart.
"Krad!" a voice shouted across the landscape.
Satoshi.
He could explain to the boy later. He could work with the boy through this, and through everything else, later.
"Krad, don't!"
He froze, caught between bitterness and something more. He will not deny me this, he convinced himself. Later. There will be time for everything later.
His palm flexed, coiling the spell like it was loaded on a heavy spring, ready to fire.
And he hesitated.
It only took a second to let that crucial moment of opportunity slip. Krad's attack flew wide as Gorudo flipped and bolted straight into him. Muscular arms slammed him backward into the sandy soil, and Gorudo's hands crushed around his throat. Krad wheezed and grabbed at the thief's powerful wrists with both hands, wrestling against the fierce grip.
"No," Satoshi murmured as the scene unfolded.
"Oh my god," Risa whispered. She'd seen the angels fight, but this was more than that. There was something about their movements, about the way their bodies clashed with each other in the sand. "They're really going to…"
"Like hell they are," the bluenette growled, bursting toward the interlocked angels.
"Sato, wait!" Risa called after him. She stared at the powerful creatures trying to kill each other. She told herself this was Dark. That was still Dark in there. She ought to want to go to him, but she could barely make herself move.
Satoshi grabbed one of Gorudo's arms and pulled at it with all his strength to break its hold on Krad's throat. Risa gathered her nerve and jumped in to do the same with his other arm. Sneering, Gorudo ignored their interference. He clenched down harder around the blonde's neck. A little more pressure, and he could snap his spine. Krad's expression contorted in pain. The blonde reached up soundlessly and scratched deep gouges into the other angel's wrists as his vision clouded.
"Gorudo!" Satoshi shouted. He gave up on outmuscling the angel and opted to throw a punch right in his face instead. It connected without resistance, and the bluenette immediately reared back to throw another wild blow, desperate to get him off Krad's neck.
That worked. Violet eyes shifted from Krad to the boy with a look of wholehearted disgust. "Your pet appears to be pissing on my shoes," he muttered to Krad. "Really, I'm almost disappointed. I thought you'd be more focused than this." He released the angel and collared Satoshi in the same swift movement. The boy wrestled to get free as he was pulled off his feet.
"Sato!" Risa gasped as Gorudo pushed her aside like a shower curtain. She sized the billionaire up, looking for some way to stop him. On the ground next to her, Krad rolled stiffly to his side, coughing. They needed help. "Dark, please!"
"Calling for him again? As much as he might like to watch over his absurdly needy human entourage, I'm afraid your so-called phantom thief can barely even muster the energy to move, after the little fight he put up earlier." Gorudo smiled handsomely. "I suppose I should thank you for getting it out of his system."
The blood drained from Risa's face. "Gorudo…stop this. The police will be here any minute."
The angel's expression soured. "An empty threat. The only reason you or the police are alive right now is because you don't have the power to stop me."
"Live out your delusions in your own body, you prick!" Satoshi snorted, tugging roughly to escape the angel's grip.
Gorudo didn't budge against the boy's fighting. Instead, he just cast his gaze toward the blonde on the ground in front of him. Krad looked up at him, still dazed. His gold eyes registered Satoshi's struggling form. The angel stiffened.
The blonde's fierce look just raised a smile to Gorudo's face. "You had the chance to kill me before. How boring, letting a petty human put you off course. He is tarnishing our glorious battle." He tugged Satoshi's struggling form higher off the ground and turned toward the sound of ocean waves smashing against rocks. "Since this seems to be such a distraction for you, I'll just dispose of it."
Satoshi's vision spun as he found himself hanging out over a sheer drop of at least thirty feet. "Let's see how well you fly, you little pest," Dark's voice whispered in his ear.
The billionaire didn't just drop the bluenette off the cliff. He literally threw him headfirst.
And he smiled to himself as a white blur blew past him over the edge.
Satoshi flailed in the air, quickly absorbing the fact that he was about to fall to his death. He stared at the rocky surf lurching toward him and braced for impact. Maybe he could survive this if he landed just right, but he certainly couldn't do it prettily.
A pale hand clenched around his upper arm, yanking him sideways. Another arm wrapped around his back and tugged him in against hot skin. Satoshi glanced up to find himself eye to eye with Krad. The angel looked as startled as he did. Satoshi could barely think as the blonde's powerful wings spread a wide canopy between them and the blinding sun.
Krad's arms secured him tightly and heaved up against their rapid descent. Going far too fast, they changed trajectory and pulled up horizontally. Instead of a jagged crash onto the rocks, Satoshi tumbled with his savior across a narrow strip of white sand and slid to a gravelly stop.
Satoshi opened his eyes carefully to the sound of Krad working to catch his breath through his bruised throat. The blonde was lying half on top of him in the sand. Seagulls were shrieking at them from the rocks nearby while the foamy waves chopped against each other a few feet down the shore. Satoshi smelled salty mist and seaweed. He could smell Krad, with his alluring earthiness. They weren't dead. Dead couldn't smell this good.
With his heart slamming in his ears, he realized he was clutching his fingers into Krad's shirt. The angel's muscled contours were hot beneath the cotton. The bluenette released his hands quickly, jerking backward into the sand. Satoshi tried to look up at the blonde, but Krad's arms were wrapped so tightly around him that he could barely get the space to make eye contact. In fact, the attempted movement seemed to make the angel's hold even tighter.
Satoshi didn't try to resist the bracing grip. Besides, his body was shaking too much to muster any strength to struggle. He settled, confused, under the blonde's weight. He didn't understand why he'd been rescued. After all, he'd just ruined the angel's long-awaited chance to kill Dark. The quiet between them stretched out like a living thing. "Krad?" he whispered, barely able to control his voice. "You okay?"
"Shut up," Krad snapped. The bluenette stilled, lying pinned between the angel and the sand.
A voice broke through the alternate dimension the two seemed to be trapped in. "Sato! Watch out!" Risa cried down over the cliff's edge above them, panic clenching up her throat.
Satoshi's gaze redirected from the blonde to the air above him. He could feel the angel tensing to look back over his shoulder, but Krad would never complete the movement in time to see what Satoshi already saw: Gorudo hovering a few yards above them, aiming a ball of pitch black energy at Krad's back. Static began to fizzle along the blonde's skin as Dark's building magic resonated with his own. Satoshi threw all his strength sideways, yanking Krad over top of him as he rolled. The spell struck right where they'd just been and exploded into the sand. The bluenette yelped and gripped Krad a little harder as broken shells pelted his back.
"You really are a bore, Krad. I seem to put you down for a round with every single pathetic, sentimental trick. Do you intend to finish what we started, or should I just keep firing at humans until you dry yourself out?
Krad scrambled to his feet, breaking from Satoshi's grip. He wheeled immediately toward the black-winged figure floating above them. Indiscriminate hatred simmered in his amber glare.
"Dark!" Satoshi pleaded. "Snap out of it!"
"The only thing I'm interested in snapping is your neck," Gorudo offered.
Krad launched up at the black-winged angel and grabbed onto his ankle. With a fierce twist, he heaved the other man sideways and down into the sand. The billionaire flailed onto his back and lashed out defensively. A leather-clad heel caught Krad in the chest and knocked him backwards. Gorudo used the opportunity to get back to his feet, his tailored suit now caked with sand.
Krad grasped his chest in a daze, still aching from the blows he'd taken earlier. Violet eyes lit up with amusement as they noticed the angel's sensitivity. Smiling darkly, the billionaire began gathering the power for a spell. He didn't even notice the blue-haired boy's approach until a pale fist connected with the side of his jaw and jolted him sideways. The magic dispersed uselessly into the air around him. "Now that was stupid," Gorudo snarled, his attention locking onto the unarmed boy.
Satoshi shook out his wrist and took a step back as those violet eyes scalded into him. He'd suddenly wanted the focus off of Krad, but now he was realizing that might not have been such a hot idea. Dark's fighting skills were extreme. Even if this were friendly sparring, he wouldn't want to know how it felt to take one of the angel's blows full-force.
Gorudo whirled, so easily and gracefully that it almost looked artificial, and threw a heavy kick at the boy's gut. Satoshi desperately threw himself sideways to avoid the angel's leg, but Gorudo seemed to be expecting that. As soon as he was off balance, a pair of tanned fists came down between his shoulders and dropped him flat to the ground.
The blonde straightened up, wide-eyed at the sight of Satoshi defending him. Before the boy or Gorudo could even see him move, Krad propelled himself forward into an agile roundkick, which slammed full-out into the side of Gorudo's head. The impact made a gruesome crunch as it hurled the violet-haired man to the ground in a blister of sand. The rough hit didn't seem to cause Gorudo any pain, but he nonetheless fell still. Perhaps that was a good sign that the angel was tiring.
Krad strode firmly to Gorudo's body to inspect it, while Satoshi just stared at the blonde. That kick would have killed a human being, easily. It was simple, in casual interaction with Krad, to forget just how dangerously strong he could be when he was pissed. The angel's graceful power left Satoshi so transfixed that he almost didn't notice the movement of Gorudo's hands in the sand.
The billionaire rolled to his back just as Krad was inspecting his prostrate form. *Krad!* Satoshi tensed as he saw from his vantage point what was about to happen. It was too late. Light radiated from Gorudo's hands, and a magic-assisted blast of sand shot straight up into the blonde's face. Krad snarled and staggered backwards.
"Krad!" Satoshi called. Gorudo was getting up again, and the blonde was just standing still, bent forward with a hand over his face. Satoshi grabbed Krad's shoulder and tugged him back out of the other angel's range. They didn't have time to be off guard. He tilted his neck to try to make out the angel's face. "What is it?"
Krad's fingers were clutched tight over both his eyes. "I can't see," he snapped.
"Show me," the boy ordered, pulling the hand aside. Krad gritted his teeth and squinted his eyes just barely open. His lids twitched convulsively as he struggled to see through the sand. Satoshi winced at the painful-looking tears that were oozing from the blonde's eyes. "Shit," he muttered as he stared at the damage. Gorudo was recovering a few feet away from them, climbing back to his feet, and Krad was effectively blind, not to mention exhausted.
The billionaire cast a fierce smirk at them. "Getting tired, Hikaris?"
*Here he comes,* Satoshi warned the blonde. Gorudo swept in to take a shot at Krad's face. Satoshi barely even thought before jumping in. He threw his weight into the black-winged angel and bowled him sideways. Gorudo stumbled, not expecting the boy to jump in when the blonde was down. However, his agile body regained its footing before Satoshi's possibly could, and he wound up punching the boy in the face.
*Duck,* Krad's voice warned inside Satoshi's head. The boy shook off the punch and obediently dropped to his knees in front of a smugly distracted Gorudo. A chest-high radial spell cut through the air around them. Satoshi just cleared the bottom of it, but it burned a neat gash across Gorudo's chest.
"You will pay for that, Hikari," the billionaire glowered at Krad, charging toward him with a translucent magical dagger forming in his hand.
Satoshi threw his leg out as Gorudo passed and snared him at the point of his stride. *Catch.*
Krad threw his arm out to intercept the angel stumbling into him. He grabbed the first thing that touched him, Gorudo's sleeve, and hauled it sideways.
*Nicely done,* Krad offered the boy coolly, though his pleasure was difficult to hide. For once, Satoshi was acting as his ally. Twisting the black angel in his grip, he trapped Gorudo by the arms facing away from him. The black angel struggled fiercely, one little slip away from having Krad and the kid at his mercy. *At your leisure,* Krad signaled the bluenette.
Sorry Dark, but we're in serious danger here, the boy thought. Satoshi grabbed a hunk of driftwood off the beach and swung it into Gorudo's side, knocking him out of Krad's grip like a pinata. While the billionaire was on the defensive, Satoshi quickly grabbed Krad's wrist and pointed it toward the recovering dark angel in front of them, aiming for Gorudo's center line. *Shoot, now!*
Krad couldn't see what was happening, but he decided to take the boy's word for it. With a deep breath and Satoshi's firm hands bracing his aim, he summoned the strongest blast he could afford and launched it straight ahead.
Gorudo made an effort to dodge, but his counterpart had fired quickly. The angel screamed in pain as the explosion blew into him. Satoshi watched the reaction grimly. If Gorudo was actually taking damage, that meant that Dark's reserves were growing extremely low.
The black angel began beating his wings to lift off the ground as he grasped his chest.
"No you don't! Stay where you are!" Satoshi warned. He started forward to physically impede the angel's takeoff, but he didn't want to leave Krad blind out in the middle of the open beach. Gorudo was too unpredictable right now.
He shielded his face as huge black wings whipped up the sand around them. In no time, the dark angel escaped the boy's reach, headed for the safety of the top of the cliff.
Krad cursed as he felt Dark's magic rising away. He took an uneven step toward the receding energy and crouched low to propel himself after his opponent.
"Krad, no!" Satoshi snapped, grabbing the angel by the arm with all his strength to keep him from taking off.
An angry golden glow came to Krad's bloodshot eyes. He shook the boy roughly from his arm and whirled on him. Satoshi landed hard on his butt in the sand and stared up at the blonde, frozen in the gaze of a predator.
Krad's lips pulled back in a snarl. For just a minute, he'd gotten a taste of what it might be like to fight with his partner on the same side, to lend each other their strength and intelligence. And now, once again, the boy was interfering.
A pale hand shot out and fisted stubbornly in the fabric of the blonde's pant leg. Krad's wings stretched up in an angry arch. He pulled at the boy's strong grip on his clothes and prepared himself to kick him in the face. "You still insist on protecting him?" he shot out.
"I'm protecting you, you ass! Are you insane? You can't even see!"
"I do not need your protection!"
"I know!" The boy's fingers clenched down a little tighter. "I know… Just fix yourself first."
Satoshi's quiet words held the blonde to the ground. The angel took a slow breath, staring at the boy with a baffled look. The boy sat up and slowly unknotted his fingers from the cloth without looking up at him.
Krad's eyes burned too much to keep open. Was the kid right? Was he rushing into this? The angel finally sighed and turned toward the sound of the waves, marching into the water to try to rinse the sand from his eyes. The loose rocks under the water shifted as he tried to cross them blindly. When his balance wavered on his bad leg, cool hands took hold of his arm and steadied him.
The angel's movement halted. He hadn't even heard the boy follow him. He thought of pushing the pale arms away, of trying to preserve his anger. Breathing, he took another step forward instead. Dark was getting away from him again, depriving him of his long-awaited victory, and yet he found himself strangely pleased with the boy's careful presence beside him. He knelt slowly into the tide and splashed cold seawater into his burning face.
-o0o0oOOOo0o0o-
Above, Risa and Hattori were staring at the scene from the cliff's edge. "Crap, Gorudo's coming! Back up," she squeaked to the vet next to her, holding out an arm to guide them both away from the edge. She closed and opened her fingers, ready to defend herself. She wished she had thought to bring some kind of weapon with her.
The black-winged angel rose up over the edge of the cliff, a picture of elegant power as his wings fanned out to return him to the ground in front of them. Risa stood terrified and spellbound at the way the angel stood like a painting against the horizon, all the while wondering how she was going to fight him off when he attacked them.
However, the regal image distorted quickly. As soon as Gorudo's feet touched the ground, he staggered, clutching at his chest. Risa stared with wide eyes as the angel didn't even bother to attack him. He groaned, and the pain took him to his knees. It made the girl's stomach twist. If Gorudo was feeling this much pain, it had to mean that Dark was at his limit. She started toward him.
"Risa," Hattori warned.
"I don't think he'll hurt me right now," she said with more confidence than she felt. "Dark?" she asked, extending a shaking hand toward his shoulder. Her fingers closed, inch by inch, around his tricep. A little bolder now, she crouched beside the angel. "Dark, can you hear me?"
One of the angel's tanned hands shot out and locked around her wrist. She felt like her arm would break as he twisted it sideways, forcing her to the ground next to him. Gorudo rose to kneel over her, pinning her arms to the grass. A crazed smirk replaced the pain he'd shown moments before. When he spoke, his voice was still tight from the wound on his chest, but he sounded amused more than injured.
"Still trying to call out to your precious Dark? How many times should I tell you that you can't reach him? Why would he want to see you anyway, after you ruined his one chance at freedom? You're his kryptonite, or did you really not notice?" He smiled cruelly as her expression fell.
"I- Why do you keep saying that?" she whispered.
"If you don't know why, then you truly know nothing. Then again, you're always like this, aren't you? Clinging and following, all the while knowing absolutely nothing about the creature you worship. Did you think he would be grateful? That he would long to escape just to speak to you?" He laughed while the agony built up in her eyes.
Risa's head shot up and smacked her forehead into his. He jerked back for a moment, surprised by her guts. Then he launched over her, pushing his hand into her throat and kneeling above her waist.
She needed Dark. Crap, they were all in over their heads, and they needed Dark. The sudden realization that they really might not be able to pull him back again paralyzed her. What if Dark died alone inside this maniac? What if he lived on, knowing he'd killed them all? What would that do to him? The only reaction she could muster in response to the fear was cold, hard anger. She was good at anger, when she needed to be.
"Listen to me, psychopath," she growled against the pressure around her throat. Tears rolled from her eyes and down her cheeks. "You may be waltzing around in Dark's body and head right now, but you're just a little kid with a fancy toy. Maybe you can abuse it until it breaks apart, and then you'll just be the same sniveling brat all over again. You don't get to pretend you understand what Dark needs. You don't get to understand me!
A heavy tree branch swung at the angel's head as Hattori stepped up to bat. Gorudo reached up and blew the weapon apart effortlessly before throwing a blast of light into the vet's stomach. Hattori yelped as the blast lifted him off the ground and heaved him backwards. He landed on the ground and lay still, trying to sort out his breathing.
Gorudo turned his glare back to Risa. One look at his expression warned that he was out of patience. "Now, you finally get to die," he snarled. A knife made of black energy formed in his hand.
"Coward!" she barely even choked as the angel's strong body held her in place. She was about to be killed, by the person she loved. Her pulse skipped as she realized what she'd just admitted to herself. Not that it really mattered now, as she stared up into those violet eyes distorted by cruelty. She couldn't watch him kill her. That couldn't be her last memory of him. She clenched her eyes and tried to think about flying with him over the city, safe in his arms. The memory felt so far away. Now it was all a distant fairytale, like some kind of mean joke. She rested her fingers tenderly over Dark's hand around her neck and dissolved into sobs.
A few seconds later, she managed to realize that she wasn't dead yet. Something warm dripped onto her collarbone. Risa clenched her eyes harder and waited for the pain to come.
More warmth. Drip, drip.
She cracked open an eyelid and discovered glowing violet eyes staring down into hers. The angel's nose was bleeding in a heavy trail across his lips and chin.
She didn't question the situation. Her hands shot up and snatched the black spear out of his hands. He didn't stop her.
She threw the weapon aside and stared at him. "…Dark?" she barely breathed against the weight of the hand that was leaning into her throat.
The pressure eased suddenly. The tanned hand that had choked her jerked up and went to the ground next to her, catching the angel's weight heavily. She opened both eyes then, staring hopefully up at those beautiful purple irises.
"Risa," his familiar voice murmured soothingly. More blood was dripping into the crook of her neck. She realized for the first time that was what it was. Her lips parted in worry, but he stopped her with a smile that made her heart shudder. "Let's get one thing straight," the angel said, touching her cheek with a warm hand. His fingers felt shaky against her skin, but his voice wasn't. Violet orbs looked down into hers softly. "You are not a weakness."
He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You're my strength. You've always been my strength."
Dark's fingers shook a little worse against her cheek, but didn't move away. They stayed against her soft skin like she was a lifeline. "Risa," he said, urgency trickling into his beautiful voice. "I'm sorry. I need you to stop me now. Before I destroy Krad and everyone else."
"Dark, you won't. Just stay with me," Risa said. She sniffed back her tears as she realized she couldn't afford to upset him right now. He looked alright. He always looked alright. But he wasn't. With a deep breath, she raised her hands to his cheeks firmly. "Look at me, and concentrate."
"No, you don't understand," the angel muttered. His voice was starting to tremble as badly as his hands. "It's like he's tearing apart my head from the inside. This won't last long."
She stared up at him with wide eyes. The angel was so good at acting calm and collected that it was hard to remember that he was at his limit right now.
"Risa!" Hattori called to them from the ground nearby. "Look."
The girl tore her eyes away from Dark's neon gaze to follow Hattori's eyes toward the trees. Daisuke was making his way toward them, supported by the tall figure of Trap at his side. The boy was carrying something in his arms. The machine.
"Stay together, Dark. Just for a little longer," she told the angel confidently, holding the sides of his face in her hands to keep him focused. "Daisuke is coming. We're going to fix this."
The angel's nosebleed was getting worse. "Risa," he scratched out. "I'm already...too…" Her heart tugged in shock as she felt warm liquid escape his eyes and drip down her fingers. She'd never been able to imagine the thief scared, until now. She hated herself for not knowing what to say to him, when he needed her this much.
"Daisuke!" she called out as the redhead finally got to them. "Hurry."
The redhead ran forward on his own and dropped quickly to kneel next to the angel, while Trap stopped a few yards back. Daisuke's garnet eyes widened with alarm as he saw his soulmate's condition. "Dark, it's me," he said breathlessly as he scattered the machine components on the ground in front of him. The angel was still kneeling over Risa. Daisuke thought about trying to guide him off of her, but Risa's gaze warned him not to move him. Nothing sudden, her eyes warned him.
"Daisuke's setting up the machine," Risa said, stroking her thumbs across the angel's cheekbones. Her voice was calm and impossibly confident as she reassured him. "Just another minute. You're doing great."
Daisuke assembled the machine as quickly as he could with his shaking hands. He reached out and gently fastened the sensors around Dark's chest. The angel's breathing advanced to a series of frantic gasps as Gorudo thrashed out from inside him for control. He stared into Risa's soft, strong eyes and focused on her with everything he had. Daisuke's gentle hands drew his shaking palm away from her cheek and slid sensors over his first and third fingers.
"Trap," Daisuke whispered uncertainly. It was a struggle to remember the process when his soulmate was suffering so badly right in front of him.
The scientist hung back at a cautious distance, mesmerized by the scene. His careful investigation of the Black Wings' humanity at the lab seemed absurd in light of the blatant anguish he was witnessing now. "Power up the machine. Allow 30 seconds for it to connect to the signal from the main unit." Even he was shocked by how clinical his voice sounded. Maybe this was just the way he responded when he was…was he worried?
"We don't have that long," Daisuke threw back as he powered on the control box.
Dark's focus wavered, blackness flashing in and out of his shining amethyst eyes.
"He can make it," Risa corrected firmly. "You're going to make it," she insisted to the angel above her. Her soft brown eyes held his attention with stern confidence.
The angel responded with a stiff nod as he fought for control. He was scared. He was pissed. He was grateful, and then scared all over again. The moments passed, each one deeper, threatening to swallow him alive.
"Fifteen seconds left," Daisuke encouraged him. His voice wove in and out of the thief's consciousness. "Twelve. Ten."
"FREEZE! PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND STEP AWAY FROM DARK MOUSEY!" A megaphone shattered the quiet concentration of the group.
The angel stiffened, pain clouding his eyes.
No…we're so close… "Please, you can't distract him!" Daisuke shouted.
"Dark, stay focused. Ignore everything else!" Risa pleaded as an armed SWAT team rushed in around them.
"Move away from Dark. That means now! We will fire!"
There was no way Daisuke was moving right now. A warning bullet whizzed past his head.
"Five seconds, Dark" he gasped, staring at the machine. The angel drew a thick gasp and nodded.
Another warning bullet fired, this one grazing across Risa's shoulder. The girl flinched in pain, grasping the shallow wound. Too late, she realized she'd broken Dark's gaze. Her eyes snapped back up to him, but he wasn't looking at her anymore.
"No, Dark," Risa breathed as the angel's ebon wings began to stretch upward in a jerky, menacing movement.
The black angel straightened slowly and turned a dark gaze on the police, whose weapons were uselessly trained on him. "You have served your purpose," he said in a hard tone, raising a hand upward. A beam of power shot through his fingertips and mowed its way across the heavily armed squadron like he was knocking over bowling pins. A few cries of shock and pain escaped from the men, and then only silence.
"That's better, don't you think?" Gorudo smiled as he turned toward Risa and Daisuke, rising to his feet. "I loathe distractions." He wiped Dark's blood idly from his face and showed his palm to the redhead and the brunette. "And then there's my other pet peeve - loose ends." Power began swirling around the blood in his palm while the angel's eyes glowed a deep, feral violet.
Daisuke's eyes hardened. "Everyone, spread out, now!"
Gorudo threw his head back and laughed as they wisely avoided him. Not that it would save them. He lazily pointed his spell at the redhead, deciding he may as well deal with the boy first. That brat's death seemed likely to deal the most damage to Dark, and he was in the mood for retribution after the angel's brazen defiance.
He stretched out his fingers, eager to fire, but a new source of magic raised the hairs on his arms. He spun to look behind him, toward the cliff. Krad was rising up over the edge, a ball of power already prepared in his hands. The angel was soaked in seawater from the face down, but his electric gaze seemed to stop it from looking comical. There was something truly lethal lurking in the blonde's cold expression. "Should have run when you had the chance," Krad condemned. There was no hesitation as he opened fire.
-o0o0oOOOo0o0o-
On the shoreline below, Satoshi ran to the wall and pounded his fist into the rocky cliff while Krad's form disappeared over the top. "Krad! Damn it. KRAD!" he screamed up at the angel. After all that… after everything that just happened, he'd been left behind.
-oOo—
"You were going to kill him," Satoshi whispered from beside the blonde, supporting his arm for balance while the angel rinsed and worked the sand carefully out of his eyes. There was no accusation or judgment to the words; they simply were.
"Yes."
The boy ran his hand thoughtfully through the knee-deep water they stood in. "Do you wish you had?"
"…Yes."
"Sure about that?" Satoshi grinned just slightly at the hesitation he heard in Krad's voice.
"We were meant for this," the blonde said, seriously. "This must be finished, before…" he caught his words quickly, "Before anything else can begin."
"But why? I don't understa—" Satoshi broke off as a bullhorn and several gunshots went off above them.
"Crap," the bluenette gasped. "Risa and Hattori are alone up there."
Krad glanced up at the sky, scanning it for Gorudo. That pompous idiot was deliberately messing with him, and so far, the Hikari knew he was playing into every trick.
Satoshi didn't miss the dangerous malice revving up in the blonde. "Krad, how much strength do you have left?"
"Enough," the angel said hoarsely.
"Liar," Satoshi muttered. "Look… Channel mine."
"Impossible. You are no longer a wing host," Krad said. Tension pulled at his expression. Satoshi could see that the angel was the worse for wear. The magic he'd used was already costing him.
"You healed me last night. Don't tell me energy can't flow in the other direction," Satoshi said, touching his healed ribs. There was unease in his eyes, despite his best efforts to hide it, as he raised his gaze to Krad's. The remembered agony of feeling his life force sucked away without reserve was too much a part of him to completely ignore, even when Krad had just saved his life.
The angel flushed at the fear in the boy's expression. "No." He stood up and spread his wings. "Stay, and don't interfere."
"Wait!" Satoshi scrambled to follow him, but the angel was already off the ground. "Krad!"
-oOo-
"Krad! When I get up there, I'm going to kill you!" The boy was still shouting, looking for a handhold on the rocky cliff. He couldn't see what was going on up above, but the police had gone quiet, and that couldn't be a good thing. His mental link with the angel was giving him nothing; he wished the blonde hadn't learned how to control it so well. He couldn't stand not knowing what was happening.
An explosion echoed through the air, loosening gravel from the cliff face above him. Satoshi shielded his eyes and squinted up to see both angels launch into the sky, locked together. They circled and maneuvered around each other, wickedly fast. The very air around them seemed to brim with violence. First one angel would take a hit, tumbling off balance. Then they'd be right back in each other's faces again, the other getting blown back. The two were so evenly matched at this point that it was impossible to tell who was taking more damage.
Satoshi could hear Daisuke too now, calling up at Dark from the cliff's edge above. The redhead was frantically struggling to bring them both back from their killing edge, just like Satoshi. But they were out of reach, in every way possible. Even trying to send a message to Krad's mind was like coming up against a brick wall.
The fear started in the small of the bluenette's back and worked its way up through his chest and stomach, until it seemed to seize his entire body. He threw himself onto the stone face and climbed for all he was worth. Why couldn't he shake this feeling? Something horrible was about to happen.
By the time he made it up to the grass, his arms were shaking almost beyond use. Hattori and Risa had heard him shouting up at Krad, and they'd been there at the ready to pull him the last few feet over the edge. Risa pulled him into a frightened hug, clinging to him protectively as they both stared up at the sky. He'd managed to resist looking at the battle while he was climbing, but now that his eyes sought Krad's shape in the air, he could see from much closer than before just how hard the two were going at it.
The violence was not for show. Damage was being dealt. That much was obvious as a spray of blood spattered down across both their faces. Satoshi wiped the liquid from his cheek and stared at it in dull horror. Was this Dark's? Or maybe…was it…
*Damn it, Krad! Let me in!* he howled at the blonde's mind.
-o0o0o-
Krad sank back in the air with a dizzy gasp as another punch blew into his ribs. He crested his wings to catch his backward slip, heaving himself back up into Gorudo's space. He summoned a dagger of light and thrust it toward the black angel's chest, but at the last second, he went wide and struck Gorudo's arm instead. Damn, I did it again, he scolded himself. That was the third time he'd given up the chance to finish his opponent off. Why, after all these years, was he missing the commitment he needed now?
"Almost out of strength, Krad?" Gorudo sneered. "It seems to me you're wasting quite a few opportunities. Squeamish about killing your old rival?"
"And you're wasting an awful lot of time talking. It's been a while since you've used any magic. Running low?" Krad scoffed. He grabbed Gorudo's wounded arm and swung him sideways before delivering a swift kick to his gut.
He froze as his heel met with empty air. Gorudo was no longer where he'd been. An invisible rope suddenly wound around the blonde's neck and hauled him backwards. The magical force cut into his skin like fire. What? He'd never seen the thief move that fast.
"Oh, I have some power left," Gorudo smirked as he floated around the struggling blonde. He grabbed the front of Krad's shirt and leaned in until their faces nearly touched. His voice was twisted with hatred as he whispered , "I saved it just for you."
The black angel drew his right hand back and summoned a wave of violet power. A set of black crystal shards materialized in the air beside him, trembling like a swarm of arrows drawn on an invisible bow. Krad's gaze hardened as he recognized the spell he'd protected Satoshi from the night before. "This…again?" he choked out against the bind on his neck, staring at the crystals. He didn't feel like taking another round from those things. He was fairly certain he wouldn't be able to fly through the pain. That would give Gorudo plenty of time to-… His thoughts flickered to the humans screaming up at them from the ground.
With a toss of his arm, Gorudo sent the spears hurtling toward the blonde's chest. Krad ripped through the binding spell on his neck with a sharp groan and thrust a shield into place ahead of him. He poured magic into the forcefield, making it as strong as he could, but there was just no time, and not enough power.
The half-formed shield shattered apart, spraying magical shrapnel all around them while Gorudo's shards connected with their target.
Krad screamed; he couldn't stop himself. The pain made him curl over and sink back in the air, each breath cutting him apart. Somewhere above him, Gorudo was laughing. The sound grated in and out of his shattered nerves.
He reached to one of the daggers and wrapped his hand around it tightly. Time seemed to freeze for him in that one second. He'd expected the crystal to send pain through his hand in an electrifying wave. Instead, it felt cool and solid, and wet.
Crap.
Apparently, the spell was not the same this time. It had done much more than just simulate pain. Crap, crap, crap! His head spun as he began to feel unnaturally cold.
A sense of solemn determination pulled his senses together as he remembered his counterpart, laughing above him. There was no time. No choice. Not anymore. He summoned a golden spear, as long as he was tall, into his left hand. His other arm shot up and grasped onto the black angel's ankle. In a cold, mechanical movement, he tugged Gorudo's body down toward him and thrust the spear up.
Dark's true eyes flashed into focus and locked with Krad's as the two met chest to chest in the air, each impaled on the other's weapon.
The blonde's expression weakened. He and Dark looked at each other as if completely lost.
"Krad," Dark breathed, looking down at the damage between them. The shock ran through his face as his gaze flashed back to the blonde's. "I didn't want -," his throat tightened up in stunned silence.
Krad looked at Dark's earnest expression and grimaced. "Shut up. You shut up." He gagged on the pain as he clenched a fist around the black angel's shirt front. Dark stared in horror and didn't even fight the contact as the blonde half-hung against his chest. Golden eyes met violet, studying, accepting. "That was the single… least satisfying thing… I've ever done," Krad murmured wetly. Regret and utter disappointment filled the silent air between them as they stayed locked together in the sky. Finally, it was Krad who pushed off from the thief and set a ragged course for the trees nearby.
Dark stared at his falling nemesis hollowly. His hands drifted to the huge spear protruding from his chest, as if to remind himself it was really there. He gripped it and hauled the weapon free. A tight moan pulled from his lungs. His hands trembled as he dispersed the spear into a shower of golden sparks. He wanted to puke, or pass out, or both. With swirling vision, he scanned the ground below him and managed to cut a generalized trajectory toward Daisuke and the others.
They rushed to meet him, catching his rough descent where he landed. Risa and Daisuke each grabbed one of his arms and supported him as his knees tried to buckle.
"Down! Get him down!" Hattori was demanding. In a blur, the angel found himself on his back in the grass. Everything below his waist was numb. That didn't seem good. They were talking to him, and he was missing most of it. He blinked in frustration as their voices came in and out. This was pathetic.
"Get more pressure on it. Risa, hold this down. Harder, with your whole weight."
"Trap, it's… the other side is…" Riku's voice was shaking. Odd, he thought, when had she gotten there?
"I know, just press down."
The angel's lips pulled up in a faint smirk. "Never seen you…this stressed, doc."
No one laughed. Bunch of sticks in the mud.
"The machine's ready," Trap said from somewhere off to his left. No way, even the mad scientist was worked up.
"Hang on, Dark. We'll fix you. We just need to restore our link, and you'll be fine."
The boy was crying. Shit. He wanted to make some offhand remark to defuse the panic in Daisuke's eyes, but he held it back. He couldn't do that to him; he couldn't run away from what was happening. "Daisuke," he breathed slowly, "It would kill you."
"No, it won't. Just hang on, we'll connect you to the-"
"Daisuke."
"-machine, then we'll separate you from,-"
"Daisuke!" The boy finally stopped talking and stared down at the angel. Dark met the boy's frightened garnet eyes. "Gorudo's already dead."
The redhead's skin slowly drained of its color. "What?" he barely whispered.
Dark cast the boy an apologetic smile. "This body is dying. The machine can't separate us now."
The boy's eyes glossed over. "Then you…will… What will you…?" He began shaking, unvoiced sobs shuddering through his chest.
Hattori put a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Daisuke, the blood's not stopping," he whispered.
"No. There has to be a way." His ruby eyes blazed into the thief's. "You always figure something out, Dark. Tell me how to fix this!" he demanded.
The angel smiled at him. He reached up and thumbed a tear gently away from Daisuke's cheekbone. "My crazy Niwa boy. So strong, but always crying."
Daisuke choked back a sob and clasped the angel's hand tightly in both of his own. "Dark, stop it."
The angel smirked and squeezed his fingers back. "I'm sorry, kid. I had fun."
"Dark…?"
His eyes drifted to Risa, who was clutching his wound like it was the last thing she'd ever do. His smile took on a different kind of softness as he saw the tears in her eyes. "None of that, my lady."
He felt horribly cold. I want to stay with them, he asked in the quiet of his mind. He wasn't sure who he was asking. Was there a god for things like him? Or maybe he would simply disappear. His fingers closed around Daisuke's a little tighter. He couldn't see very well, but he could feel the boy's tears plunk down on the back of his hand.
"Okay," he murmured with a soft smile. "It's okay, Daisuke." Suddenly the boy's arms were around him, pulling his upper body up into a tight embrace. Dark put a pale hand on the back of the boy's neck. "It's okay," he whispered. This time, the words didn't quite make it out correctly. His hand slipped from Daisuke and fell down somewhere.
"Dark," Risa breathed, still pressing down on the wound with all she had. "No you don't. Get back here. Dark!"
The angel's gaze darkened as if he'd just remembered something. Crap, he was almost out of time.
"Satoshi," he rasped. The bluenette leaned forward with a solemn frown, watching him carefully. Dark's smile had drained from his face, and regret replaced it. He spoke slowly, with calculated effort.
"I'm sorry about Krad."
The light in the thief's eyes stiffened and then faded, even as Satoshi's pulse began to falter.
"What?" Satoshi murmured to a body that could no longer answer him.
"Dark!" Daisuke shouted, jiggling the angel's too-still form.
While the others began calling out to the motionless angel, Satoshi slowly drew up to his feet. His heart felt like a mad drum inside his chest.
"I'm sorry about Krad."
Where was Krad? What the heck was that supposed to mean? Dark has attacked him, but he'd seen that spell the night before. It wasn't lethal. However, Krad was probably sitting in the woods someplace with those awful things stuck in his body until someone pulled them loose. That must be what Dark meant.
What was wrong with him? Krad deserved to wait for a bit, after stranding him like that. His friends were all hurting, and Dark was… gone, right in front of him, and all he could think about was…
Damn it, he'd told that bastard not to get carried away. They were here to save Dark, not kill him. He should have known the angel had no self-control. He should have known better than to rely on that sadistic jerk for anything. He couldn't even seem to feel what he ought to about Dark's death, because this was all his own fault. He fumed with anger as he turned from the others and made his way down an overgrown trail in the general direction Krad had flown off. He didn't even think about the SWAT team member whose unconscious body he stepped over as he stormed into the woods. His full focus was on Krad as he stormed through the forest to find the angel that betrayed his word.
It was only a few hundred feet into the dense brush that he spotted the blonde. Those huge snowy wings made quite an impression against the thick green foliage. Satoshi could see him sitting up against a broken tree trunk with his back to the trail, his wings resting in the greenery on either side of him. Pulling branches out of his way with both hands, he broke off from the trail toward the white-winged form.
He rounded the side of the fallen tree to face the angel. There, his feet froze on the ground. He knew what he'd find, but that didn't change the impact of seeing the blonde hunched forward over his own wounds. The pain was written all over him, from the tightness of his face to the way his hands were clenched at his sides. Dark's spear-like shards were protruding from his chest and torso like arrow shafts, buried deep in his flesh.
He looked up at Satoshi as he approached. The boy returned the look with a glare. "I hope you're happy, Krad. Because no one else is. Damn it, you and your stupid revenge!" Satoshi growled.
Krad didn't show much reaction except to look down at the ground in front of him. "Dark is…"
"He's dead, Krad!"
"I know," the angel replied quietly. He raised an arm to gesture toward his head. "I feel it."
Satoshi crossed his arms and surveyed his former curse. Krad's breathing was stilted, stiffening each time his chest tried to expand against the agonizing shards stuck inside him. I should just let him stay this way, Satoshi thought sourly. Why, after all the garbage Krad had put him through, was it still so hard to just walk away. I'll pull them out. Then I can scream at him all I want without getting distracted.
He took a step forward and knelt down in front of the blonde, meeting his confused yellow eyes with a glare. "This does not mean we're okay," Satoshi warned him. He grabbed one of the shards and ripped it loose in a rough movement.
A started cry broke from the blonde. The sound put ice in Satoshi's stomach. He stared at the blade he'd pulled loose, which rested harmlessly in his hand before dissolving into magical energy. It wasn't hurting him. Why didn't it hurt this time? He looked back to the blonde's chest, and spotted it. A stream of dark red, oozing through the wet black cotton of his shirt. That wasn't just seawater. He placed a hand slowly against the fabric, and it came away splotched with crimson. "Krad…" he breathed, staring at his hand.
He stared at the protruding weapons, his teeth clenching until they started to ache. He couldn't look at them. He had a compulsive need to pull them out, to throw them as far away as he could. Something inside him was starting to shake. "Get out of him," he breathed to himself with widening eyes. He took hold of the top two shards that were buried between Krad's ribs and pulled them loose in slow horror. They landed on the mossy ground at his sides as he cast them away. In moments, they were all out, but the damage was still there. Krad's blood was dripping down his arms and into the front of his shirt. Satoshi sat back on his heels in the moss with his hands soaked in blood, looking ready to black out.
Krad leaned heavily against the tree trunk, his breathing ragged. He winced as something touched his waist and began pulling his shirt up. His hand caught the boy's pale wrist tightly. "What are you doing?" he demanded.
"Bandaging it," Satoshi muttered. Why was he getting so worked up?
The angel pushed his hand away tiredly. "It's fine."
Satoshi's blue eyes glistened. "Don't be stupid, you're bleeding all over the place!"
The blonde's head rolled for a moment before he brought it carefully up to meet the eyes of his former tamer. "Dark," the blonde murmured.
Satoshi didn't miss the dizziness that was leaking into the angel's voice. It seemed like Krad's focus was degrading dangerously fast. "Look, Daisuke is with Dark. I'm with you. Just stay focused." He stared into the angel's dilated eyes for a sign he was still listening. "Krad, open up. Let me see what's happening." Fear crept into his eyes. Was the blonde dying? There was so much blood. He needed to sense for himself what was going on. He needed to do something about this awful feeling growing in his gut.
The angel shook his head blearily. "I don't want… you to…" Golden eyes met the boy's, full of emotions Satoshi couldn't read.
Satoshi braced Krad's face in his hands and leaned in almost nose to nose with him. "I'm not going anywhere, so drop the shields. Whatever you're feeling, I can handle it!"
"Satoshi-sama," the angel murmured. He stared into his tamer's eyes. A strange tenderness radiated from Krad's soul to the boy's, but that was all the angel allowed through.
"Krad, you're scaring me," the boy studied him with wide blue eyes.
Krad's body shifted. Satoshi stopped breathing as a warm mouth rose up and overlapped his. Krad's smooth lips closed the short distance between them and pressed against him with a kind of startled urgency.
Satoshi jerked back, his mouth still buzzing with the warmth of the contact. In a sheer reflex, his hand flew up and whipped across the blonde's cheek. The blow snapped Krad's face to the side. Satoshi flushed and drew his hand back to his chest in a wide-eyed trance while Krad stared at the empty space next to him. If Krad was shocked by his own actions, it didn't show. He slowly returned his gaze to Satoshi. The bluenette's chest ached unreasonably as he watched the blonde's expression. Krad looked resigned and exhausted, …and sad. All Satoshi could seem to make himself do was stare. "Listen," he muttered, wiping a wrist across his tingling mouth, "Keep still. I'm going to go get the vet, and he'll -"
"No. Stay."
Irritation crept into the bluenette's tone. "Krad, you need help!" Did the blonde really have to be so bossy at a time like this?
The angel barely shook his head. "Just be quiet, and stay."
Satoshi's heart drummed madly. The angel was dying. His angel was dying. Nothing would fix him. Not in time. Krad was dying. Krad was dying. If he stayed here, he was admitting it.
He stood to go, taking a step back from the angel. Krad watched him without comment.
The boy paused a few steps away and turned back toward the blonde slowly. He retraced his steps and dropped to a seat at Krad's side, shoulder to shoulder against the fallen tree.
"Staying?" Krad asked quietly.
Satoshi put his bloodstained hand carefully over Krad's on the ground between them. *Yeah. As long as you need.*
He closed his eyes to focus on steadying his manic heartbeat. He was fighting the urge to run, to be anywhere but there. They didn't talk or even look at each other. He just stayed, his fingers locked with Krad's, listening to the angel's breathing grow worse and worse. Even when the air was finally silent and the hand he was holding began to lose its heat, he kept very still, listening to his own breathing now and refusing to look at the angel beside him.
"You ass," he whispered. "What's the point of being pissed at you if you're dead?"
A strange warmth under his fingertips finally made the boy open his eyes and look down at the body beside him. The angel's skin was beginning to glow and dissolve into flickering wisps of light. Satoshi clasped harder onto Krad's hand as it started to disappear. The solid skin burst apart into thousands of weightless, tiny embers, shining like gold.
Satoshi didn't want gold. He wanted Krad's hand. The lights multiplied as the angel's body rapidly disappeared. "Hey!" he snarled, launching to his feet. "Put him back! Don't you dare take him!" he screamed into the air. He threw a punch through the formless embers. They swirled with the air, the way dust particles danced before a window, unaffected by his violence. Then, as if summoned by something, they began floating away.
Satoshi ran after the trail of light as it migrated toward the path he'd traveled earlier. His heart hammered in his throat. He reached out, with his link, with his soul, anything that might still be able to reach the angel. *Krad!*
There was nothing there. It was as if their connection had never even existed. He was running now, chasing the swarm of lights as they threatened to escape his view among the trees. He felt like if he lost sight of them, everything would end.
He picked up speed, nearly falling face-first as he ignored the uneven ground at his feet. As he spun around the base of a large tree, he found himself face to face with a bleary-eyed and equally breathless Risa and Daisuke. The bluenette skidded to a halt to avoid bowling them both over. "What's happening?" he demanded as soon as he saw the panic-stricken looks on their faces.
"Dark… Dark's body has-," Risa choked out, gesturing to their right. A flurry of amethyst sparks was swarming upward, meeting up with the gold-glowing trail Satoshi had been chasing.
"What the hell?" Hattori muttered as he and Riku finally caught up behind them. He observed the two-toned embers glowing together above them. A look of realization darkened his face. "Satoshi… Don't tell me the white one, too?"
The lights stopped migrating, now that they'd drawn to each other. Violet and gold mixed together in the air about twenty feet off the ground. The light swirled and began to create wind. It blew the leaves on the ground in a restless circle. As the light packed thicker in the air, it began to grow brighter and larger, gaining intensity until it was almost impossible to look at. Gold and Violet both lost their definition in the blinding hue.
"Satoshi! What's happening?" Daisuke shouted over the rushing wind.
The bluenette just squinted into the blaze. He didn't care what it was. All he knew was what it wasn't. He realized he felt angry. Whatever was taking shape in front of him, it wasn't Krad. And he hated it.
The light swelled and then stretched slowly, long legs and arms extending from the center. Risa's eyes slowly focused and grew wide as the light started to die down and reveal a lone, silvery figure above them.
He was tall, maybe taller than either of the angels. White hair hung in wild, silken tufts around his face and shoulders and then cascaded down his back like a river of light. His lean body and angular face were both impossibly beautiful and unmistakably male. The long white robe that hung open from his chest down was tailored to his every curve and flared out in an angled lapel around his neck. Silver crosses latched the front closed and hung along his sleeves from the peak of his shoulders. A triangle of skin stood exposed where the garment flowed open just above the lip of his white pants.
The figure raised his arms out slowly, and a pair of silver wings materialized behind him, stretching up around him like bows of light. Even though the blinding magic had died down, the figure was no less dazzling, as if filled with an inner light. The winds swirling around him slowed and stilled. So did the sound of the waves breaking beyond the cliff, and Satoshi could swear it happened on command.
"Sato!' Risa breathed, and even her whisper was like some kind of forbidden interruption of the scene taking place above them.
The angel's eyes opened, irises as white as the sun, and looked down at the humans gathered on the ground. For the first time, that perfect face took on expression. Marble lips curled back in unmitigated disgust. The air around his head began to glow with a bright aura.
"Oh my god… It's a halo…" Riku murmured, unable to look away.
"Satoshi," Daisuke's voice was still raw with tears. "What… what the hell is that?"
The bluenette stared at the malice in those white-hot eyes and took a step back. His whole body wanted to run, like the instinct of a prey animal. "I think," he whispered, barely holding his voice together against the overwhelming sense of inferiority that pounded through him,
"I think that's the Black Wings."
- To be continued. -
o0o0oOOOo0o0o
So… um…
*blink*
*blink*
Should I hide myself in a bunker now? Please don't kill me!
Thoughts? Reactions? Requests?
Thank you for bearing with me while I was creating this very long chapter. As you may imagine, there was no good stopping point, so it is twice the length of the previous installments. There are mean cliffhangers, and then there are "holy shit, are you even human?" cliffhangers, and I try to draw the line at the former!
Love,
Kat