Chapter 2

FF author and Tana's creator: ME!

DGM characters: Hoshino Katsura

Tana had hidden out in the lion cages, none of them were interested in him, in fact the cubs were curled up round his feet, purring slightly, their bodies twitching in the dreams. He liked it in here, no-one would think of looking here because you would have to be a fool to be with them. Tana, however, found that he had a sort of calming effect with them, and when it was daytime, he would often be in charge of releasing them and they would often play with him, making it look like they were going to hurt him. He placed a hand on one of the cubs head, getting a louder purr. He smiled, stretched out with them. Almost falling asleep, his eyes half closed, he felt a hand on his wrist.

'got'cha.' In the dark Tana could see the colored teeth of Cosimo. His eyes shot open in fear, the cubs waking up startled. The two adults were growling, pacing slowly in front of the cubs, which had run back for protection. Tana tried pulling away but Cosimo was to strong. 'I thought I would find you in here, you always did like the savage things.' He was pulling Tana towards the door of the cage, picking him up by his arms and twisting them. Crying out in pain, he would have fallen to his knees if Cosimo wasn't holding onto his arms so tightly. Involuntary tears in his eyes caused the clown to laugh. He had managed to drag Tana out of the cage, locking it, briefly letting go of one of his hands, dropping him, and was soon dragging him back towards his own tent.

Thrown against the wall again and again was not enjoyable, each time brought new pain and the fact that Cosimo had ripped his shirt off made the pain worse. He was being kicked, punched as well as other things. The most enjoyable part? Oh that would defiantly have to be the pain that was followed by each blow. He was used to it by now though. As he lay, half supporting his top half, on the floor after falling from the collision with the wall that had decided to be in the way of Cosimo's throw, he coughed, more blood splattering onto the already bloody carpet. He was covered in bruises that made his already skinny and beat body look even worse. Cosimo had been laughing for a while now, especially at the beginning when Tana had tried to fight back a little, but now he was simply bored and taking it out on him. Tana had stopped trying to fight after about the fifth run-in with the wall. Tana thought to himself, 'it just doesn't want to move out of the way when some ones throwing something does it.' Tana picked himself up into a kneeling position and couched again, more blood coming up. He had already become blind in his left eye from a cut that Cosimo had decided to give him when he had stopped fighting back to see if he would. 'Shit it hurts, I can't even stand now. If he does anything else then I can't do anything to stop him. I'm exhausted already.' Cosimo pulled back at his hair, making Tana look into his face, 'ya see, this would not have happened if you had gone now would it. You could have left this all behind.' Tana used the last of his strength to snarl, 'screw you, basterd' before Cosimo punched him again in the stomach. He was dropped to the floor, coughing, no strength in him at all, and slowly all went black.

Allen found Tana outside of Cosimo's tent. He had heard noises for quite a while and had come to see what had happened when they stopped. Both of Tana's eyes were shut, one with a still bleeding gash down it, his whole body was bruised and cut, and his hair was matted. But he was breathing. And that is what Allen was most concerned about when he found him. Luckily Tana was light enough for Allen to carry back to the tent. He cleaned off the wounds, often getting a twitch and a frown from his unconscious brother. When he was done, he bandaged his body. He had Tana's head close to him as he gently washed the cut. He gasped when he saw that the cut went right over it. As soon as that was bandaged, Allen pulled the covers over him, and sat at his side watching. He had noticed that over the past month Tana would disappear in the middle of the night and often had more bruises then before but Tana would never say what he had been doing. But Allen knew now.

Tana's consciousness came and went. He was outside and cold, there was a stinging sensation then there was warmth next to him. He slowly opened his eyes, or eye as the other one was bandaged and he wouldn't of been able to see out of it anyway. He pushed himself up slowly, wincing and letting out a little gasp as his wounds twinged with pain. 'damn he did a number on me' he looked to his right and saw Allen laying next to him, clothes stained in the same blood he had just washed off his brother. 'Allen' he thought a sad look in his eye. 'Damn it I didn't want Allen to find out about this.' Allen stirred and rubbed his eyes. He looked sleepily at the place where Tana's head had been and shot up.

'Tana! Your awake!' Allen said, slightly surprised. Tana smiled gently, 'yeah. You didn't think that I was that weak did you? I may be skinnier then you but I'm a lot tough-er' his voice fell as he saw Allen's face, which was serious. 'You think I'd believe whatever story you're going to tell me about how you got those? Tana I think from the noise I heard last night and where I found you it's obvious. Why didn't you tell me what was going on?' Tana averted his gaze, a sad look on his face, 'because I wanted to protect you,' he said quietly. Trying not to remember how it had started. The flap of the tent opened and the ringleader came in. Allen looked shocked while Tana was glaring at him. The ringleader put his hand to his chin, 'hmmn now what happened to you to get so injured? You weren't there to get breakfast so I came to see where you were. Now I know why. Did you get into a fight again?' Tana's eye narrowed, as if hatred was there, but Allen knew he couldn't say anything about Cosimo, his right hand man, or say anything to his face either. But his look and smile were enough for the ringleader to understand what he knew.

Allen had left by this point, going to get some food for the two of them to share. The two were left alone. 'My my,' he said, 'I'm surprised you still want to stay here if you got beat up like that.' Tana smiled even more, 'oh no, it was just a bunch of local thugs. Of course after we move again I won't have to worry about them.' His answer was sharp, trying to cut apart the ringleaders facade. And it worked. 'I gave you a chance to leave, but you didn't take it. I tried to make it so you wanted to leave but instead you throw it back at my face. All I've done is for you to go somewhere where you'll be properly cared for. We can't afford to feed you properly to ensure your growth.'

'Maybe I can be of some help?' Allen had returned with a slightly sour look on his face and half a loaf of bread, which he gave to Tana, and a clown. One of the wandering performers that had been with them for the past few months. He was easy to get along with and normally had a dog by his side. Allen's face told what must have happened to the dog. The clown looked Tana, who looked confused at that point, up and down, 'hmmn well if I took them with me we would have to wait long enough for the lad to heal enough to walk. So if it would be alright with you sir, I will extend my stay till just after Christmas day, but if this only happened last night then his rate of healing suggests maybe in the next day or so.' The ringmaster agreed, sullenly, and left. The clown winked at the boys and left them to talk.

departure

Tana had taken two days to heal enough to walk, the clown, Mana as they found out, had brought them both new clothes, long sleeved new shirts, blue trousers, a pair of black and brown boots, of which they had one of each color despite Mana's objections, and matching coats, one blue one green. Allen got a set of mittens to hide his paralyzed hand, and Tana got a pair of red gloves, that kept his hands warm even though they seemed thin. They were stood at the entrance to the circus, Tana leaning a little on Allen, but not so much that he couldn't walk on his own. The other workers in the circus were stood on the other side, saying their farewells, Jameson was crying into a little handkerchief whilst Allen and Tana smiled awkwardly. Though Jameson had been there for a shorter time then the boys he had become very good friends with them, also being the strongest guy didn't mean he was harsh, quite the opposite in fact, he was really a gentle person. They smiled, knowing that they were going to be leaving the home they had for the past three years. They were moving forward, together. Mana called then and they joined him, leaving that circus behind.

the accident

(Yes I'm majorly skipping but it's not going to be as interesting)

The boys had been with Mana for six years now. In that time Mana had taught them tricks, and survival skills as well as reading and writing. They even had their own language for certain words, a game they had made up a couple of years after they had left. Though still cheeky sometimes, the boys were less like wild children, their hair brushed and washed to be smooth and silky. Tana still couldn't see out of his left eye and properly never would again, but the thin scar from the cut was only just visible, and only if you looked hard enough, it looked normal enough. Allen still couldn't move his left hand, paralyzed as it was. But that day was different, with the usual cheer of the boys as they ran in front of Mana, not noticing the out of control carriage coming as they ran on the side walk. Mana's voice rang out in warning, the two boys stopping, watching in a fear that they hadn't felt for so long, and felt the push of Mana, getting them out of the way of the carriage.

There was wood everywhere, both boys were in shock, they stumbled over to Mana, Allen putting his hand on his back, Tana slumping to the ground. Mana was breathing his last, and he told them, 'no matter what, keep on walking.' Tana had already realised what had happened, his eyes screwed shut, while Allen was shaking their fathers shoulder crying his name over and over.

It happened on a snowy day. The snow settled on their mousy brown hair, making it white. They were sat by Mana's grave, tears streaming down their faces. That when he showed up, The Maker as some called him, or as others say, the Millennium Earl.

'Good evening,' he said to the two boys, 'would you like to have your father back? Cause I can make that happen,' Allen looked up at the earl, his right hand clutched Tana's left. They nodded, the earl brought out a skeleton made of metal, 'all I need is your voices to call back his soul from the other side.' Tana looked slightly worried at this point and clasped Allen's hand as tightly as he could, getting a reassuring squeeze back.

They both drew a deep breath and shouted, 'MANAAAAAAAAAAAAA!' however what they had been expecting to be a happy reunion ended up with Allen's left eye got slashed as well as the dead one of Tana, causing a light to appear in it, Allen was in a choke hold and the Earl ordering him to kill Allen. With Tana unconscious, Allen's left arm started to move on its own, a huge, white claw like object attacked Mana. With Mana encouraging Allen to destroy him, Allen's cries woke Tana from where he had been knocked unconscious. Tana looked up only to see Allen's crying form as he destroyed Mana, and to see above the two of them, their souls through his left eye, which had turned pure black, a red pentacle inside as if an iris, a scar, similar to the one Allen gained. Tana crawled over to Allen, shuddering at what he could now see out of his left eye, and the fact it was mixing in perfectly with his right. He touched Allen's hand, grasping it tight as their hair turned white from the shock they had received. In front of them, a man with red hair, and a strange mask, was crouching down, a large gold ball on top of his hat. Tana's eyes opened in shock as he saw the emblem on his chest. He pulled Allen closer to him, the man understood.

'So you are the ones born with an anti-Akuma weapon. What a cruel fate awaits you both. Will you become exorcists?' they looked up puzzled, the red-haired man explained what they had done was what an exorcists job was. And so they agreed.

Training or Torture?

Tana always wondered if people would mistake him for a girl. After half a year with Master Cross, his thought became a reality. A drunk Cross, a short skirted maid's outfit and a load of abuse led to something Tana thought he had finished with.

It was in the showers that the mistake was really made, the servant boys of one of the places Cross went to stay at, had all come in for a shower, the strangely girl-faced Tana was already in one of the full up cubicles, just his head and legs were seen. The boys stopped, Tana hadn't noticed them, but then again who would care if members of the same sex had just walked in whilst you were showering in a public bathroom. He was scrubbing the soap out of his white hair, head down slightly.

'Hey isn't that?' one of the boys whispered to his friends, they nodded and one said, 'yeah Allen-kun's sister.' They were still muttering when Allen came in. He paused seeing the crowd of boys. 'uh... what are you doing?' they boys looked round to see Allen behind them, clothes on but dirty, as if he'd been doing a lot of work. They all said nothing and went to different show cubicles. Allen shook his head and wandered over to Tana's stall, all the boy's eyes on him. 'Hey Tana it's your turn to get Master today,' he said, leaning on the wall. Tana looked at him out of the corner of his eye, frowning. 'Isn't today...oh no I am not going to get him if it's that day you do it.' Allen grinned, 'I would but Master knows the difference remember last time?' Tana shuddered and sighed. 'Fine is it in the room?' Allen nodded grinning as Tana wrapped his towel round him, including his chest where his crystal was he had another towel which he was drying his hair with as he left. One of the boys called Allen over, who was still grinning, looking after Tana. He went over and the boy said, 'your sister does know this is the boy's room doesn't she?' Allen laughed, 'oh Tana knows. Just wait a second,' and with that a yell could be heard, the door slammed open and Tana stormed in, a maids outfit that had such a short skirt it was enough to give nearly all the boys nose bleeds. Tana had already stopped in front of Allen and picked him up by his shirt front.

'Is this meant to be some kind of joke Allen?' Allen was laughing too much to give an answer. He was dropped on the floor still laughing when Tana said, 'fuck, that perverted old man. I'm going to kill him one day.' Tana scowled, face still bright red as he walked out to get his Master from the bar, slamming the door behind him. Allen picked himself up still laughing, 'actually I think you guys are a bit mistaken because Tana is always in something like that, Masters preferences. But he's actually my twin brother, apparently slightly older according to him.' The boys faces dropped in shock, most of them had wanted to go on a date with Tana. Allen was laughing as he left for the door, 'you'll see why it's so effective when he goes, especially like that. It's one of the only ways to get him back here without getting shot.' He left after examining the door slightly. The guys soon saw what he was looking at, a crack had appeared on the handle from Tana slamming it. They had gone back outside after their showers, free for the evening, when they saw someone coming back, almost carrying someone twice the size. They heard the swearing before they saw the actual faces of the people. They were both red-faced, one from drinking too much, the other from embarrassment. Apparently the swearing at the master was for the fact he kept trying to flip Tana's skirt. Allen had appeared at the door to help and wasn't fazed when Tana dropped Cross straight onto him. They heard cross say in a slurred voice, 'hold on, you're not my princess.' Allen ended up dragging his master up the stairs wishing Tana hadn't just left him.

That night wasn't any better, Tana was in his room, Allen next door, just lying on his bed back in his usually tank top and joggie bottoms, his hands behind his head. His door creaked open, and he turned, expecting Allen, not the person it was. Cross, still completely out of it from the drink, stumbled forward, as Tana backed away, his back against the wall, slight fear on his face. 'Master?' what are you doing? You shou-' his words were cut off by the fact Cross had pinned his arm to the wall, his mouth on Tana's, other hand going down to his pant line. Tana's eyes were wide in shock, more so when Cross, still kissing him, pushed him down so he was sprawled out on the bed, when Cross finally lifted his head away enough for Tana to stutter, 'M-master w-w-what are you d-doing,' he found both of his arms were above his head in one hand, the other one of his hands going up his shirt. Tana gave an involuntary whine, clenching his eyes in fear, opening them slightly, the fear still there, shown in the trembling, when Cross kissed him again. He was now straddled on the bed, and under his masters weight he couldn't do anything to stop Cross' drunken attack.

The next morning came and Tana woke up, in a bear hug from Cross who was still snoring his head off. He carefully un ravelled himself, trying not to wake his master in case what he did last night wasn't actually a drunken stupor. He swung his bare legs out of the bed, still shaking, and looked around for his joggie bottoms. His face was completely red, tears in his eyes. Was this part of Cross' training? He hadn't let them fight Akuma at all, just made them do his dirty work with debt collectors and bills. He thought to himself as he pulled on his trousers, 'tonight should be alright, it's poker night. I'll be with Allen. Cross can't get me if I'm with Allen.' Oh but he was mistaken, he sent only Allen out tonight, with a confused look on his face, Allen left, leaving a fearful Tana in the clutches of a mad-man with a hammer.

Cross was watching Tana look at Allen leaving. He couldn't help but notice the slight jump as he set his glass down. He called him over, telling him to sit down. Biting his bottom lip Tana did as he was told, his hands clenched either side of his knees, obviously trembling. Cross crouched down, in front of him, his head cocked to one side like a curious puppy. Tana twitched, his eyes shut. He knew it would come. He didn't know what it would be but something would come. And that something was a hand on his cheek.

Tana flinched away from the contact, but he stayed in the sitting position, he wouldn't be allowed to move. The hand was back, brushing away a lock of hair that had strayed onto his face. The hand was then under his chin, pulling it up. Eyes fully shut, teeth clenched he didn't know what would happen. That's when his shirt came off and he was pinned to the ground again. Tana opened his eyes slightly when he felt the bush of hair on his stomach. Cross seemed to be studying the design around his crystal.

He touched where the lines of black were broken in the design of the butterfly, and the swirls that were on his arms, coming to rest above his elbow, leaving the rest of each arm black. His back had the same pattern as well as cross found when he had made him turn over. Cross was muttering away to himself, something about a broken butterfly and some incoherent things. But what got Tana out of his confused state was the fact that not only did his hair touch along his back, he felt kisses, up his back to his neck. Panic overwhelmed him as he trembled again. He was trapped, no way to get out. But even though he had screwed his eyes shut, and was trembling, Cross did no more than that.

He'd pulled Tana up into a sitting position, and was holding him tightly against his chest, Tana's arms crossed and trapped. He was sat between Cross' legs, his face was red, eyes still shut, and he was still trembling as his neck was touched with what felt like a feather, over and over again. He had already tried to move his head away but he couldn't. Though he was held in that position, Tana wasn't tensed up, just trembling. He knew what could happen if he tensed. And he didn't want that. It was near dark when Cross finally let him go, ordering him to go buy some alcohol for him. Tana nodded, not trusting his voice, picked up his shirt, and left the room, planning to put as much distance between them as fast as he could.

Putting his shirt on, he found the closest shop and got the alcohol for Cross. He was just walking back when a shadow fell across him. He turned round, looking at the strange person who was stood above him. They were dark-skinned, wearing a tux and top hat, and just visible under it were marks of crosses. He had a cigarette in his mouth, as if he had just stepped out for a smoke and decided to follow the boy, which of course he had. The earl had said about a couple of strange armed boys and arms that were black were just as strange as anything Tyki could think of. The earl had wanted one or both of the boys if possible, and well, one was right here, an eye patch over the left eye from which a scar could just be seen. Tyki was smiling his gentlest smile, the boy not seeming to be afraid, holding a bottle of alcohol. When the boy made no move to run or come closer Tyki took a step forward, and crouched down, the lad watching him the whole time. His smile wasn't wavering, but the boy had felt something, because he had started to shiver. That was when the hand went into the back of his neck, knocking him forward, unconscious.

The Earl's New Pet

When Tana's eyes opened, he was in a dark room that had a few candles in. there seemed to be a spotlight on the floor as well, just lighting up the walls dimly, but enough to see the pattern on it. There was a creaking sound behind him and he turned, seeing the back of a rocking chair moving back and forth. He paused, on his knees, confused look on his face. He didn't know how he'd gotten there when he had just gone out to buy Cross some alcohol. It was then he noticed that he wasn't in the same clothes that he had left the house in. someone had decided to put a mini skirt on him with long socks and a small tank top, so his crystal was just hidden. He shivered and froze as the creaking had stopped. The chair somehow turned around and sat in it was the same man he had met half a year ago. His eyes were opened in shock as he saw the grin he had often had nightmares about.

'Ah you're awake! Good good. Come here' the Earl raised a hand, motioning Tana to come forward. He did, his body obeying on its own as he stepped slowly closer. When he was in reach the earl grabbed one of his arms, dragging him closer, pulling him onto his lap despite the struggles. He instantly froze as a knife went to his right cheek, his eyes wide in fear staring at it. His hands hadn't been pinned but he knew not to move if there was something that could hurt. He saw the blade move from his cheek and felt the flat of it against his neck. The Earl's hands were on his chest as he said, 'such a nice body, perfect for all sorts of things,' and with an evil chuckle he cut a small and not very deep line on his neck. Tana whimpered involuntarily and shut his eyes. The earl had reached onto a table next to him and picked up a black circlet-like object which, as soon as it made contact with the blood from the cut, latched onto Tana's neck, seemingly blending in like a tattoo, just like his marks.

The earl was still smiling as Tana lay on the floor, bruised less then what he had been in the circus but more than he had been for a while. The cuts in his back weren't paining him so much as he couldn't actually move any part of his body. That was when he had noticed the bed, and at the end of it? A metal chain that looked like where a guard dog would be chained. He hadn't seen the circlet-like collar but had felt it attach to his skin, almost melding in with it and had felt a colder sensation of metal right at the back. And he realised what was going to happen. And it did, what with being painfully dragged across the floor and slammed into the end of the bed, wincing and giving a small moan, the end of the chain was fastened through the loop that was on the back, and he was allowed to slump there.

He was in pain. But it wasn't as bad as what had happened at the circus. Until Rhode Camelot got her hands on him. He was once again pinned against a wall, blood running down from his mouth. He hadn't been with them any more then a month but his ribs were already showing badly and new scars covered his back. But what had to be the most painful thing had to be his left eye. Although all he could see were souls out of it, Rhode thought it might be a good idea to stab it out, testing some of her techniques on him before she would torture anyone else. It hurt yes, but he wouldn't cry out, he had already trained his pain receptors to ignore the worst pains he could get, making them dull throbs. Rhode was frowning, not impressed that the new toy could hold up for this long, holes in his hands, his eye gone, being beaten around. Yes his eyes were dull, but they still didn't look like they had given up just yet. But she wasn't done yet, turning him round and slamming his back and head against the wall with strength a small 12 year old girl shouldn't have she tore off his already bloodied shirt. That made his eyes widen. She edged closer to him, his laboured breathing getting shorter and faster as her face came closer. His teeth were clenched, red on his cheeks as her hands went down to his trousers. He clenched his eyes shut as she moved so she was right on top of him. She felt the wonderful movement of trembles from him. Being beaten didn't seem to work as much as this slow mental torture. She smiled evilly, already persuaded the Earl to let her have him for the night. She flung him onto the bed, where he lay trembling in fear, a pained expression on his face, eyes shut. She straddled on top of him, getting a small whimper. She didn't actually go the full way, though she suspected that maybe he had already had this sort of thing happen, the reason behind his fear of it. Around early morning she had fallen asleep on top of him, looking so innocent. Tana had managed to push her off him, placing the covers over her. Even though he was still trembling, he just sat at the foot of the bed, head on knees.

'Allen, I wonder how you're getting on?' he thought to himself, a hand gently touching the collar. He didn't know how long he had been asleep or when he had fallen asleep but he was woken up by Rhode jumping on him. His face red he stammered, 'm-mistress Rhode!' as he fell on the floor. Rhode seemed to be pouting, 'hmmn you really aren't scared of beatings or us are you?' she said as she sat on top of him. Tana gave a half hearted smile, 'actually mistress, I'm terrified out of my mind, but there's not much I can do to go against it is there.' Rhode frowned again, hitting Tana across the face. He coughed, trembling slightly. She seemed to be satisfied, and got off him, she changed her clothes, Tana looking away as she did, and they left her room, going to the Earls.