Three Day Storm

#6: Like a Child

X X X

There was not a sound to be had in Gen's Pharmacy. With just three words the room had been muffled with a thick, horrible tension as the reality of the situation at last began to sink in.

Ban was the first to speak. "Ginji…"

There was no answer, but that was okay because he didn't know how to finish the sentence. If his friend couldn't light so much as a lamp… if he was this different… then what had happened? How - who?

The thief's mind was a blitz of half-formed protests and denials and vain attempts to disguise the meaning behind the apology he had just heard, just so that it would mean something… else. Something that did not result in the end of the world as he knew it. When he first saw that Ginji was different, Ban had begun to nurse an apprehensive line of thought that the change ran much deeper than what he wanted to admit.

He doubted he had been alone.

But for Ginji to lose his powers was beyond the realm of comprehension. The Lightning Emperor was invincible, was arguably stronger than all of them put together, especially inside the Fortress. Even if Ban had defeated him in the past, that could be put down to an understanding of tactics that was not shared by his opponent. It did not mean that the Emperor was weaker than him.

There was a scraping of wood as Teshimine pushed his chair back. Jerked out of his thoughts, Ban realised he was standing. "It looks like you were right," the man said in an altogether too-calm voice, "This will have serious consequences."

Ban realised that he was speaking to Gen.

"You knew?" the Beastmaster asked from his corner of the room. There was an offended tone to his voice - or… was it worry? Shido and Kazuki's allegiance was easily explained as having once been Ginji's own, but… the need to protect him… that was a different kind of loyalty.

"When he sent the note that brought me here," Teshimine explained, his footsteps echoing as he moved across the apartment. "Gen told me that he suspected something was very wrong."

"Something else for after the cavalry," Kazuki commented quietly. His tone had a surprisingly hard edge to it. Ban could feel his blood hum quietly in anticipation of a fight but he repressed the old antagonist streak in him - a streak that he usually reserved just for Shido. It wanted to join in… no matter the consequences for the situation.

Teshimine seemed intent on ignoring the Threadmaster, giving no answer and instead reverting to his verbal examination of his protégé. "So, Ginji. You really can't do anything electrical?"

There was an unhappy sigh from the bed-bound man. "No," Ginji answered, "It's like there's nothing there, just this empty space inside me. It's like…" he trailed off; Ban waited for the metaphor.

"Like when you were a child?" Teshimine's question was gentle.

There was a long pause from the young adult. "…Yeah. Yeah, it is. I'd never forget that, and this is the same."

Suddenly a shaft of light struck the room, illuminating a selection of wall and floor. Ban stared at it, then realised - across the room, Teshimine had found what he was looking for; a torch. It went sweeping around the room and each person shied from the brightness as it fell on them, until Teshimine stood it on an end-table, allowing the glow to hit the ceiling like a modified lamp.

His vision restored, Ban watched as Teshimine moved back to his seat by Ginji's bed.

"There is more in this, then. Ginji…"

From the sound of Teshimine's voice, Ban had a sudden feeling of dread lock up in his chest. It was the sound of bad news - like when a favourite pet died, or when a promise was broken. He didn't want to hear the rest of what had to be said, even if ultimately it was good for Ginji. The notion was absurd and disloyal and all kinds of things and… that want did nothing to stop the words he knew he would have to hear eventually.

"The Lightning Emperor no longer manifests himself in you."

By the light of the torch there was an odd look on Ginji's face, one that Ban found just as unnerving as the use of 'manifest'. Was it despair? ... No. Self actualisation? No, it wasn't that either. Relief? Never. He and the Emperor were bonded, like the Miroku Seven. Even if one side was far more dangerous than another, Ginji's half balanced it out. They lived for, and with, each other.

That was how it had been the entire time he'd known Ginji.

"Teshimine, I'm sorry -"

"No, Ginji," Teshimine interrupted. "Do not apologise for what is not your fault. We can fix this."

"How do you propose we 'fix this'?" Ban asked roughly. For this Jagan user, all that meant was they would have to find the culprit… and then figure out how to reverse what had happened - if it could be reversed at all. With no real idea of where to start, for Ban the situation was not promising.

"We start with finding out where exactly Ren took him," Teshimine said. "That is where the Emperor will be."

Ban heard the tinkle of bells as Kazuki moved forward to take initiative. "You said you haven't seen Ren. Is this still true?" he asked Gen.

"Of course," the man said, looking just a little affronted at the suggestion he might have lied about such a thing.

"Then it may be she is still up in the Beltline, with whoever has done this, and the Emperor too."

"The Beltline?" Teshimine said, "No… no, I think the answers are in a place that the Beltline cannot reach."

Through the dim environment it was hard to say for certain, but Ban was sure he saw Shido narrow his eyes. "You mean -"

The man nodded solemnly. "Babylon City."

Despite the mood, upon hearing that Ban found himself grinning recklessly. "I could do with some exercise," he said flippantly.

"Wait, Ban -"

"It's okay, Ginji. I know what I need to get back. You sit tight and heal up, okay?"

With a smirk that was more confident on the outside than he was on the inside, Ban turned away. He heard Kazuki and Shido move to follow, passing assurances to their sovereign that things would be alright.

Together, the three of them would be enough to take on the obstacles that Babylon City would throw at them. They had to be.

Ban was the first to step outside, bracing himself for the weather. But when there was nothing to tug and pull at his clothes; no heavy push of formidable wind, he paused. With a frown he stepped further along the common balcony, glancing around and expecting the wind to pick up at any given moment.

"Storm's gone," Shido said from behind as he pulled the door shut.

Ban realised this was true and mumbled an assent.

"It must have been recent," Kazuki said. With everything that had happened inside the Pharmacy since Teshimine's arrival, it was no wonder they hadn't realised.

"Well, it may start again," Shido said, stepping past the two other men to take the temporary lead. "Let's go before it does."

X X X

Thousands of floors, stairwells and shortcuts overhead, a blacked out room was illuminated by the glow of a singular being. Electricity crackled around him in sporadic flickers of light and noise, briefly highlighting the cold, angular features of his face before disappearing again.

There was a crumpled form at his feet. Long purple hair fanned across the stone tiles she was lying on, an arm sprawled overhead and the other lying limp at her side. Half-lidded turquoise eyes were watching the being above her in a blind daze, beads of sweat dotting her skin all over. Every so often, her fingers would twitch, residual crackles of electricity zapping the short distance from her body to his.

The man didn't flinch, absorbing every bit without so much as the blink of an eye.

Across from the two, on a platform that served as a dais, stood a man who looked like he had no legitimate business being in the Limitless Fortress.

With a body that could be called short for an adult, he had what had once been a kind face. A tailored black suit of high quality covered his stocky body, brown hair just starting to show the first flecks of salt and pepper. For all intensive purposes, he was the picture of an educated man whose intelligence had brought him great fortune. An ugly look of greed twisted his features as he surveyed the pair, his humanity nowhere to be seen.

Stepping down, expensive shoes clicked against the stone as he closed the distance between them. The woman did not move but the glowing man twitched reflexively, cold eyes landing on his approaching form.

Coming to a stop, he spread his hands to gesture at the room - and in turn, the building which surrounded it.

"Welcome back to your domain, Emperor," he declared, voice echoing through the dark room.

As the room returned to silence, a soft mumble came from his feet. Glancing down with some measure of disdain, he was greeted with a weak, confused mumble from the woman.

"Grandpa?"

Before he could sneer his answer, Ren had slipped into unconsciousness.

X X X

To be continued.