(Hehehe. He he. He. He. Hehe. Hehehehe. Sorry about this Jy24. Please don't hate me. This was just part of the original plan. I apologize to you all, actually. I know my ideas aren't that original…. And my writing quality fluctuates like crazy…… but….. I really…. Really…. Really like writing so so very much….. Anyways, I own nothing, and I hope you try your best to enjoy. Please. Pretty please. With a cherry on top. God bless all you lovelies.)
Lenalee was his friend, that much he was sure of. Though many feared her and her occasionally raging temper, she was always true and never once told him a lie, that much he was sure of in his short time upon this earth.
That's why he knew he could believe her tragic tale, knowing it to be without distortion or perversion.
According to her, she was once a beautiful human girl, normal and good in every possible way. She always did her best and tried to make art of her every day.
The only fault she had was that she was far too naive for this cruel world and she would pay for that dearly.
When love came in view, clad in a white robe, smiling to her as sweetly as honery, she embraced it openly and believed with her soul, mind, and body all the lies it told her. A man came into her life, seemingly angelic, seemingly the one for her and she married him.
He told her he loved her for who she truly was. He told her those three sweet words a million times over, she began to believe them. She believed him so she gave him her all.
But it was only when she was held down by the bonds of marriage that the illusions of white were cast down and he revealed his true colors.
Lenalee had once given everything to the man she loved more than all others but instead of giving something, anything that he promised, he took something that could never be returned.
The man she loved, the most important thing in the world to her, her own husband, took her life away.
That wretched man killed her. He killed Lenalee.
Even now, given a second life, she hadn't forgotten. How could she, anyway? How could she forget something so horrible when it left her once perfect face torn open and marred?
She could never forget. The angry, the regret, the misery, the sadness, the confusion, it consumed her wretched self like an animalistic instinct to this very day. He saw it in her obsidian eyes and he knew that she just couldn't let go.
That's why she could not hear those three words. She believed those words once but never again.
At first glance, she asks the question and if they call her ugly, she is inclined to kill them. She knows it not to be true and such awful and blatant liars are not worth her time.
However, if they call her pretty, she removes the mask and asks again. If the person calls her ugly, she is consumed with uncontrolled rage and she kills them then and there but if they call her pretty yet again, a pool of never ending misery opens up in her stone cold heart.
If she was beautiful, then why did he do it? Why did he kill her? What did she do wrong? What could she possibly have done differently?
Why did she have to die for that lie?
The spite builds up inside her like a flame spreading through a dry and dead forest, leaving nothing but destruction in the ashes of its wake, and leads her to track that person down with nothing but their scent and kills them in their sleep, in the comfort of their own home.
She would do this because never again would she fall for empty words. Lenalee would never again let herself fall prey to lies. Deception would never worm it's way through her iron armor ever again.
Never again.
Never again.
Never again.
She was a vessel for nothing but raw bloodlust; She knew she would never change from this path till she was taken from this earth as second time and she knew this better than any other ever would.
When he first heard her story, though grim and terrible as it may be, rather than scared, he felt pity for her, knowing that this pain she felt was now inseparable from her being and that, no matter how dear a friend a tengu like him managed to be, he could never truly relieve her of it; Rather, he could probably only provide a temporary distraction from it, for her to forget who she was just long enough for her to smile.
He didn't mind the purpose, especially not when it was a purpose valued by Lenalee herself. She was such a sweet girl and he could never complain if it was for her benefit.
But one thing he never suspected was that he might end up feeling slight, minor as it may be, kinship with her tragic tale thinking to himself to that lies came clad in white with a smile brighter than the sun and words softer than the clouds that blocked it from view.
The rain clouds came upon him like a crouching predator.
The small droplets of clear water fell fast and heavily like his wings were being slapped by a thousand and two tiny hands.
He was always used to witnessing the phenomenon known as precipitation from behind the glass of a window because he had heard that being left outside in the cold would make him sick.
In his current state of mind, he was inclined to believe that that was false and a lie told to win his trust but by the growing toxin of wretched feelings increasing in size by the passing heartbeats, he was inclined to doubt that sentiment.
But unfortunately for him, it didn't matter in the end because he would never see that nearly abandoned facility where the only friends and family he ever knew resided ever again, so he kept flying as quickly as he could, not really sure where he was going.
A nameless tengu like him was not sure why, but recalling that tale in his head under the heavy rainfall, the story and all its details were no accompanied by tastes, smells, touches, sights and feelings. It wasn't that he became a telepath, it was simply that in thinking back, he imprinted his own feelings of heartbreak upon the tale.
He was narcissistic, self centered, naïve that way as well.
But his experience was distinguished by a few key features in his defense.
For one, he was quite young. Being in that particular facility accompanied by that particular person was all he knew. He was physically incapable of thinking outside of the box or beyond the chains he bound himself with. There was only one path he ever knew how to walk so what was he supposed to do when it turned out to be dead end? To his knowledge, there was no instinct that helped you get through difficult times in relationships. Recovery was something to be learned. There was nothing wrong with him for feeling so lost.
For the second point, he didn't fall for empty words. He was intelligent enough not to believe a word of what anyone said to him, so much so that he hardly even understood a word spoken to him. He only learned to speak somewhat around half a year ago so that was to be expected. He did not fall for empty words or hollow promises but rather he fell for actions and feelings.
He fell for kind motions like a dance witnessed when he thought no one saw him, like the careful arrangement of leaves for him to sleep on or the picking up of some disastrous mess he made without complaint or angry comment.
He fell for hugs and kisses, touches and affections he thought he hated at first but quickly discovered he didn't want to live without.
He fell for the food, each dish different completely from the one before it in some way, each one unique and intriguing in some way, not to mention delicious like something straight from a dream, made with love he didn't deserve down to the most intricate detail.
He didn't fall for words because no words were spoken. He fell for what went unspoken, the love he saw in those brown eyes, the tears shed when he was hurt, the dedication, the intimacy, the childlike simplicity.
He fell for the feelings that consumed his heart, the feelings he thought were love and to this day, he still had no idea how he let himself fall so hard.
It was love. It was something warm and pure, consuming like fire and yet kind and comforting like a father. It was the difference between a flower and a weed, an angel and a demon.
It was a fragile thing that cut deep like a blade. It was a weak thing that broke through the armor of the heart like an army through the castle walls, the sorts of warriors he heard about in those storybooks.
It was a shared loved. It was real, or so he thought but like Lenalee's example stated, he was naive and it was because of that that he felt this excruciating pain in the rather frantically beating organ behind his brittle little ribs.
It was because he had the mind of a child that he actually genuinely believed that a greater distance between him and the person he longed for so badly would somehow lessen the pain.
The thoughts were not wanted but they plagued him anyway, the sorts of thoughts Lenalee must have had on a daily basis.
What did he do wrong? Was it true he didn't love him, that he didn't even want him at all? Not even once? What did it all mean? What did he do right? Was he nothing but a burden? Was that why he hated? What was he supposed to think? What was truth? What was he supposed to think? What was he even supposed to do now?
He knew nothing of nature, he knew nothing of the prey, what he should eat, what would eat him, where he would even find chocolate in all these wild forest trees.
He didn't even know how to survive on his own, but if he was truly not wanted in that place he once called home, then he would die here.
Feeling alone would always be superior to being choked out by the indescribable pain he felt knowing that he was unwanted, unneeded, unloved by the only person he ever truly wanted those inconvenient inefficient things from.
But he would have done it. He would have tried to become whiter than even the freshest of snows in the prime of winter if only the love were there.
He would do anything for him, so why?
Why?
It was betrayal, he knew.
Soon, the heavy rainfall became too strong for him to handle.
There was no way of knowing when the numbness stole his consciousness and a sudden slumber of the mind knocked him out of the sky but the last thing he remembered before darkness was falling, wondering with the last few remaining thoughts if Lenalee and the others would miss him now that he was gone.
Then all went black.
Silence. Since of the heart, mind and soul.
Nothing was heard. Nothing was said. Nothing was done.
Nothing.
Kind and deceptive smiles from the treasured one clad in white were all wiped away, disappearing into the pool of darkness were they were consumed, seemingly never to be seen again.
Suddenly, the tension in his body dissipated and the raindrops blocking vision cleared up.
Everything was just so easy like this, surrounded from head to toe by the land of dreams, by the substance that physics and logic still had yet to ruin, where heartbreak couldn't lay a finger upon his fragile heart.
It was nice here.
Perhaps it wasn't exciting or interesting, but it didn't matter because here, he was at a perfect rest.
But suddenly something happened. He noticed a difference between the perfect nothing and the something, a stone that caused the waves in the small puddle of dreams he indulged in.
When the dreamless sleep began to fade, he recalled once again thinking of Lenalee, hoping, praying, wishing she might have this, a place of dreams, of perfect rest, of peace, of a undisturbed quiet.
When at last he was dragged out of his slumber, it felt all too soon but that odd sound wouldn't let him continue to slumber.
"Hyooo…… Hyoooo….."
It was an odd, inhuman sound, haunting like the call of a yurei.
Just what was it?
He had no idea where he was or how long he was asleep but it didn't seem to matter. The world seemed to spin and tilt like it were dancing, everything a blur of green and brown like the rain had run over some kind of forest painting, with a slight red lenses going over his vision following the pattern of his heartbeat.
What was the purpose of this sudden glaze, he wondered, and why was everything so out of focus?
Was he still dreaming? But he was so sure he woke up.
Just what had happened to the world around him?
The air all around him was heavy. He was not entirely sure how to describe it but it was like it smelled of danger, like he instinctively knew he were inhaling some sort of fumes but his own exhausted body kept him down.
Why had he. Gone to sleep so suddenly?
The tengu just assumed he passed out from exhaustion. He had been flying for quite a long time and he was very hungry, so it was the only explanation he could think of. His mouth felt salty, dry, full of fuzz, but not in the way brought on by dehydration.
His tongue hung from the side of his gaping beak, tasting the awful dirt he lay on like it were a pillow to sleep on and he was completely at a loss of why he was unable to close it. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't move the muscles in his jaw to close his beak.
Upon his mind falling back into his skull, he also soon realized that his entire being ached a cold, painful, dull ache like he had been drained of all blood, like he were feverish, like the substance pumping through his veins was beginning to solidify and turn him into a stone statue.
Something was holding him still. All the parts of him could twist and twitch with the soul exception of this one area on his lower back. More than that, he felt pressure there like someone were holding him down there.
At last, something else entered his exhausted mind. There was no danger in sight but he felt a jolt of fear. There was nothing but empty atmosphere blanketing him on his forest bed but he still felt extreme claustrophobia.
All that the tengu knew was that he had to move, he had to escape, he had to get out. It didn't matter where, just anywhere but here.
He was immediately conscious of the cold liquid leaking through his thick layer of feathers. Thinking it was just rain water, he ignored the syrup texture and the strong nauseating scent of iron.
Really, there was no fear in those moments, only discomfort which must have been why it felt like an eternity before he finally summoned the strength into his small muscles and pushed off the ground.
He didn't accomplish much. His ability to move was almost so frivolous, he got angry at himself.
Dizziness and weakness caused his body to give out yet again falling back to the ground onto his back a few inches away.
But something rather unnerving occurred after.
He wasn't really sure what it was he observed upon the spinning world calming its rapid movements. He was far too innocent so he had no idea what it was he knocked out of place upon turning over but when his vision came into focus, he was shocked to observing some sort of appendage on his person he hadn't previously been aware of.
Yes, another appendage aside from those he was born with, a large silver rope like thing emerging from his stomach because as disturbing as this suddenly appendage was, he absolutely refused to think of the other possibility. His child's mind wouldn't allow it.
A slick silver appendage, thick like a mans arm and seemingly reaching out as far as the eye could see. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate, he really had no idea what it could possibly be, only further reassuring himself that it was in fact truly there. It shimmered and visibly pulsating under the little light that was shed upon this bizarre and nightmarish scene he witnessed but what he saw next made his little heart nearly stop beating.
He hoped it was an appendage because the other possibility was far too disturbing for him to consider but he was never that fortunate before, why would he be fortune now? But of course, he had no idea there was something sharp was sticking into his stomach till he moved on His back and moved it out of place.
But at last, the silver appendage, much to his horror, retracted.
From his stomach was retracted a several sharp teeth, a mouth baring many rows of fangs drenched in what he could only assume to be his own blood.
It soon became clear to him that this was no arm, no appendage he grew in His sleep as he may have hoped.
His dark eyes bulged in fear, his pupils dilating in delirium, as the bird child looked straight into what he knew to be a snake with no eyes retracting its powerful jaws from his flesh.
A snake.
He didn't pay attention to the pool of blood forming on his abdomen. He hardly even noticed, hardly even felt the warm liquid spill over from his sides. He was to mesmerized, enraptured, his entire mind consumed by this creature, this nightmarish monster that should not have existed here in front of him.
He just stared, completely vulnerable and aware he would fall prey to it's malice and bloodlust before it suddenly let out a harsh his, green saliva, poison perhaps, spraying forth as it was suddenly pulled back beyond his line of sight, retreating behind the shadow of nearby trees, vanishing like it had never existed to begin with.
He hadn't breathed.
Two red eyes glimmered in the silent darkness. No pupil or iris, only recognizable as eyes because of the thirst, the anger, this pure sin only a beating heart could produce.
Two eyes of red looked at him with familiarity and somehow he knew, he just knew these were the snakes true eyes. Misplaced eyes crested into the sockets of the face of a monkey thirsting for blood while the monkeys deadly fangs were misplaced in the mouth of the snake.
Surely this wasn't the Nue he heard of, the rare demon that attacked anything that moved without sense.
Surely it couldn't have been.
The resemblance was there but this creature was one of the rarest known Yokai. This had to have been some sort of nightmare.
Both gazed upon him in an unfamiliar way, the way a predator would, steam and poisonous saliva dripping from their agape jaws.
Poison. Of course.
This creature, this disturbing abomination joined at the tail into one being, were they responsible for this daze? Did they bring him down? With their poison, did they catch him vulnerable in this nightmare?
Just what were they? Did they want to kill him?
The sharp ringing was all that filled his ears now, but perhaps he was just deafened to what other sounds there were to hear, what other objects there were in creation, calling to him, screaming for him to run, to use his feet to get out of this nightmare as soon as possible.
His body felt so numb, so heavy, like it were a separate thing from his being, weighing him down but he kept trying, knowing full well he might die if he didn't.
He assumed by his movement that his talons had succeeded in pushing himself backwards but panic welled up in his chest to see that it made no difference because the creature only came closer, further into the light, allowing its every disgusting detail to be revealed to his vision.
Heart beating so fast, the nameless tengu thought it might burst, he began to long for home, or that nearly abandoned facility he coined home, the place with food, friends, a place to rest his head, safety.
Love may not have been there, but perhaps he would have preferred it to the cold hearted hatred and malicious. Perhaps the one he cared for may have lied, but never once had he made the acquaintance of this creature in the facility.
Closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Soon, he could yet again smell the blood in its breath, coming to the horrifying conclusions that most of the blood wasn't even his.
It had found, killed, mutilated many before him. It was going to kill him and he would not be the last, that, he knew for sure.
He began to regret it, his movements slowing in exhaustion, slowly giving up in the battle against his own impending death.
Regret built up inside his nerves, thinking about how it seemed so right in his childish mind at the time to run from the facility, even when that jerk Cross told him not to. He thought nothing but hateful thoughts when Cross and that person told him not to do it, to come back, to return, but he didn't listen and now he was here.
He would never taste chocolate or enjoy Lenalee's company ever again. He would never antagonize Yuu or slip out of Alma's murderous bear hugs. He would never get pranked by Lavi or fish with Johnny ever again.
He would never grow to understand Wisely or Road like he wanted to.
He would never break Cross' things for no reason ever again.
He would never sleep all day and cause trouble all night just because he was bored.
He would never grow up, he would never have dreams, he would never have nightmares.
He would be no more.
But more than anything, more than all that, his greatest regret was that he would never see that one special person ever again.
The memory was fresh in his mind, the kindness, the love, the things he treasured. All too late, the nameless tengu realized that perhaps what truly bothered him was that, despite not being lived, the tengu still loved that human man more than anything, more than the sun, the moon, or the stars in the sky.
Even if he wasn't love, even if he was hated, he still couldn't erase what was in his heart.
It was enough to keep him nailed there, no matter how painful it was. Love was a powerful force. Somehow, he just couldn't hate him. The mere thought was repulsive, wrong.
Perhaps that was what Lenalee missed. Perhaps what one needed to free themselves from the spite, the pain, the hatred, was the realization that the only reason why they lingered was because the love lingered.
Perhaps it was forgiveness that would free the both of them.
Perhaps love was a double edged blade that way.
With that final thought, he closed his heavy eyes and stilled his limbs.
There was no point in running anymore.
The only thing that occupied his mind in that moment was that person, Mana.
He wondered, he hoped, he chose to believe that maybe, even if he wasn't loved, Mana might miss him anyway.
That thought gave him peace before all went dark.
Before everything returned to that empty silence.
Darkness.
Silence.
Except.
Except it didn't.
Everything did not disappear in that moment.
Everything did not disappear in darkness and silence in that moment, but rather quite the opposite.
The whole dull forest imagery brought down in splendor by the heavy midday rain clouds was brought to life suddenly, unexpectedly, without warning by a sudden burst of light and one of the loudest sounds he had ever heard in his life.
Temporarily blind and deaf, thrown back by a strong force, it took the nerves a solid seven seconds to register the heat.
A strong flickering heat, even his numb and paralyzed could feel that it was a very large flame.
Flame.
Fire.
His mind registered the information.
Something had exploded in the middle of the forest, a place where there shouldn't have been any gas leaks or other spontaneously exploding substances.
But even with his dazed frame of mind, he recalled a faint bitter familiarity.
Where had something like that happened before?
But before the bird child could finish that half baked thought, he soon found that his body was being moved. Not only moved, but being picked up from the ground.
He would have panicked, thinking that what was picking him up was that Nue like creature's jaws as to consume him and one bite but instead, he remained calm, his heart rate slowing down because rather than being crushed by some strong confinements, he was picked up and swept away by a pair of gentle and familiar arms.
The scent was one he knew, as well.
There was that word again. Familiar. Just what had picked him up from his forest grave? Just what or who had saved him from that monster? An angel? He sure hoped so. He had more than enough fear and sadness for today.
But he had never made the acquaintance of angels, at least not to his knowledge, so who could it be who held him close, placing pressure upon his bleeding stomach, and carried him far swat to where the fire no longer burnt at his dry feathers?
After what felt like an eternity, his fragmented senses seemed to be pieced back together, bit by bit. Instead of darkness and a deafening ringing like that of a continual bell, faint fuzzy images blurred with quick motion behind his closed eyelids and the distant chorus of sharp growls and echoing footsteps filled his ears.
More than that, nausea set in heavy like a weight on his stomach, twisting and churning his insides till he thought they might snap.
He was sick, cold, bleeding, and sore all over. He would have been scared, he would have been terrified but the whispered assurances of whoever held him kept him of a calm heart.
This was all to familiar a situation.
So, without further ado, with steal resolution, he made the decision to resist sleep and open his exhausted eyes.
The sight that greeted him both comforted and frightened the nameless tengu.
The image was faint, foggy, but he knew full well who it was now.
Perhaps the only thing keeping him from realizing it moments before if he had merely used his mind to think, rather than dwell on the doubt.
The boy never liked those fire shikigami. They were loud, too bright, too chaotic but the Onmiyoji like his Mana were so very fond of using them for every reason possible, such as lighting a fire, knocking down a tree, or waking up other Onmiyoji for their daily routine. That jerk Cross had said many times that the lot of them were just a bunch of pyromaniacs, whatever that meant.
The summoning of one was easily done, simply by writing the word and the symbol on one of the blessed talisman and throwing it a safe distance away from one's self. The tengu had seen, heard and grown to despise it so many times in this past year, you might think he would recognize it as a far sweeter melody in his time of need, but looking into Mana's large distressed eyes, he realized just how much of a child he still might be.
"-Ook at me! Are you alright?!" The same voice. Far too clear. It was him. It was Mana. He was truly here.
And in the embrace that followed, all his pain disappeared.
He hadn't realized it before, but the majority of his aches and pains were not physical, but in his heart rather and to leave it behind was to have a great weight lifted from his shoulders.
What was blood in comparison to sadness. Sadness left him in free fall, while blood, while pain convinced him that he was yet still alive.
How could it even be compared? One might as well compare a migraine to breath. It was unfair, unbalanced, inadequate.
But in his arms, he realized that truth, finding it hard to believe he ever doubted it.
In the others arms, he soon realized much to his horror, fear had tormented him so fervently because the love he felt had consumed him. It had become his heart, his lungs, his mind, his stomach, his wings, his feet, his ears, his everything, a part of him inseparable from the rest.
To have this love threatened, to fear for its existence was to fear for his own. He had grown so much under that love, that to have it die would be his own demise.
It was frightening, almost more terrifying than any nightmarish monster to see how weak and dependant he had become but in Mana's warm, trusting embrace, all he felt was comfort and security.
Somehow, even if his love wasn't returned, it didn't matter to him.
It didn't matter to him because Mana himself and what Mana wanted was more important to him. Beside, if the person he loved mattered less, then he would not have loved Mana at all.
Somehow, love was more powerful than he ever thought possible.
Double natured, freeing and holding, certain and full of possibilities, a wave and a particle, a light illuminating all that was hidden in the dark rather than a rope.
Just like those stupid Shikigami Mana used to kill that Nue, he used to fear love, but now he embraced it.
And at last, he pressed his beak into the man's shoulder to show that he would be fine and Mana breathed a sigh of relief, letting out all the tension in his body, and pulled him closer to him.
The tengu did not need to see to know that Mana fell to his knees in those seconds.
"Oh goodness…." He whispered over and over like a broken record into his feathers, desperation but an immeasurable amount of joy evident in his voice, "Oh, thank goodness….. I was so worried……!"
A hand pet his back softly but retracted, probably when it came back red with blood.
The tengu wished he hadn't stopped.
"Don't…." He hissed through clenched teeth, "Don't ever…. Don't ever do that again….!"
It didn't bother him that the world began to spin yet again.
It didn't matter because everything was perfect.
"Once….. Once was enough….. I can't lose what's most important….. Ever again…."
"I know I'm stupid….."
"Cross was right, maybe once…. But…. But not anymore…."
"Maybe once, I just muniplated you…. But it's not that way…. Anymore…."
"You have…. Have…. Have to under….."
The tengu didn't even feel his and Mana's bodies hit the forest floor.
All his tired mind registered as sleep began to consume his consciousness yet again, was the hint of sorrow that now plagued Mana's voice.
Why was he sad? Had he done something wrong?
Why was Mana crying?
"Ow…."
"It hurts…."
What hurts? The monster was gone, so what could be hurting Mana?
What did he have to do to take the pain away?
"Neah…. He was everything….to me….."
"... He died…. For me….."
Two puddles of blood as warm as life itself mingled together, two heartbeats joined together in the bond of an embrace, beating as one.
"I wanted…. To die, you know…."
"... Silly…. Me….. I thought I could use…. The wish to….. Erase myself…."
"All…. my fault……"
His breathing became heavy and ragged, though he were choking on something.
The warmth of his embrace was being lost, so the tengu pushed closer instinctively.
Shivers wracked his small form.
So cold.
"But it changed, you see…."
"I wanted you…. To mature, but how could I expect you to do that, when I could not even let go of the past…."
"I… I was being a child…."
"I realize that now…. I'm so sorry…."
"I should have grown up, stopped believing…. In fairytales and focused on what really…. Truly matter…."
"I'm so…. So sorry….."
"Please forgive…. My stupid self…."
Of course. He always would.
Black static filled his vision like tears.
"Sorry….. I-I'm sorry…. F-for everything…."
"I-I couldn't do it again…. Not to that nue again…."
"Th-Thank you f-for being w-w-with me…."
"You were not…. White…. B-But you w-were wh-white to m-me…."
"Y-You did n-not…. Revive m-my past, but….. You…. G-gave me a….. Future….."
"Th-Thank you….."
"T-Thank… you…."
"Thank…."
The words echoed in his deafened ears.
Out of sync the heart rates fell.
Cold the embrace became.
"I…. Love….you…."
And sleep claimed them both like a thief in the night, like a predator in the forest, like an army pillages a village.
Both slept but only one would wake up.
A wound taken for the innocent one, for the most important one. The sinful one was determined never to repeat the mistakes of the past even at the cost of his present.
With innocent eyes, the important one, a common red mountainous tengu, an animal beheld the wounds upon his Mana's back, four long gashes from a Nue's claw, the last act of cruelty the wretched creature inflicted upon The tengu's world.
When had it happened? Could it have been when he first found him? Did they hurt? If so, then why didn't he say so? Why did he just endure the pain so quietly like it hardly bothered him?
The wounds bled rivers of warm blood, blood wreaking with the monsters poison.
The tengu was soaked head to toe in that now cold blood and he knew, he knew the one who possessed it originally lacked his immunities.
Though he rose from sleep the other didn't.
When Mana was pulled out of his grasp, his poisoned mind panicked instantly.
Without him it was too cold, so why was he leaving.
He had little strength to move his body, but with the little strength he had, he dared to open his eyes.
Why was Mana so pale? His eyes were still wide open, so why were they so without light, so glazed over? Why didn't he even see the nameless tengu when he reached for him?
He didn't know if he said his name, he could not hear if he did, but Mana did not move, not even so much as flinch in response.
He no longer heard the gentle reassuring thump of a heartbeat and it left him so scatterbrained. He could hardly collect his thoughts enough to think clearly.
The tengu hardly thought when he saw Cross in this forest scene, thinking himself back in the facility so the Zoologists presence was normal. The bird child thought things would be okay now because was always so calm and collected, so mature and sarcastic when it came to situations that involved blood. He never panicked or showed any kind of emotion.
That's why he thought it wrong, a glitch in nature's perfect code to see the tears.
Tears lightly rimmed Cross' remorse filled eyes.
What?
This wasn't right.
Cross didn't cry.
Why would he? Nothing was wrong.
Anger sparked up inside him, however, when he realized that it was none other than Cross who took Mana away from him.
That was so like him. He always was like that, but that didn't mean it made him any less angry.
Why did he take him away? More than that, why did Mana just let himself get taken away? Why didn't he fight back at all?
He tried to speak but all that came from his beak was a groan akin to that of a dying animal. It wasn't even all that loud. It was pathetic sounding and only filled him with more rage.
He didn't understand.
He thought Mana loved him.
What on earth was going on?
Why was it so hard to speak past the lump in his throat?
Why was Mana not moving? Was he still sleeping? Why didn't his chest move? More than that, why wasn't Cross treating his wounds? Didn't he know it could get infected if left exposed out in the forest?
Did he not even care?
Why did he do nothing but shake his head, muttering unclear and inaudible things, about how "It was only an animal" and how he "Told him not to".
But why did he call Mana so stupid? Why didn't Mana get offended like he normally did? Just what was going on?
Was he still dreaming?
Was this all just one frightening nightmare?
Surely not.
Surely he would wake up and all would be okay again.
Surely he'd open his eyes and his world would be perfect again.
Surely he'd rise from this daze and Mana would no longer be this motionless doll he saw before him.
It was wrong.
He was filled with spite, anger, rage.
Never again.
Never again.
He tried to speak but all that fell were tears.
The bird child began to cry because he was not truly the child he once was and a part of him knew.
A part of him knew Mana was dead.
He just didn't want, couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't except it.
But something had changed.
Love had changed him.
The tears fell in heavy streams but just as Mana's robes were dyed white to red, the water of the tears changed what was thought to be a common red tengu.
A miracle occurred that day.
The tears fell and washed away the blood from his feathers but what was seen underneath were crisp and clean white fibers.
White. No trick of the imagination.
Clear white as bright as the brightest of loves.
White.
White because love changed him.
Love made him feel strengthened.
It made him feel as though anything was within his grasp.
So.
With a tear streaked face, the little white tengu wished.
He wished.
With all his heart and soul.
That the wretched creatures.
Known as Nue.
Never existed to begin with.
And just like that.
In response to his heart's desire.
Everything.
Stopped.
Returning.
To silence.
And darkness.
The physics of a dream,As improbable as it may seem,Is thought impossible to redeem,Torn apart at the seems,By the evil deemed science.The idea of science,The science of the essence,The essence of the presence,The presence of the standing.This chosen social standing,The dreams notwithstanding,The feet firmly plantingIn an ideology so stranding,When the natures are pandering to everything but fact.The fact beingThat nothing is what it is seeming,That no one truly knows what God is scheming,What they can't hear over the choir of screaming being the truth.The truth being sown,Nothing is set in stone,Nothing is lost no matter how far thrown,Nothing is known, everything is shown.What is shown being the irony.How can such cynical creatures cope in this liquid reality?
(Aaaaaa, this story is so bad! Yes, if anyone is still wondering about this story, that's supposed to be the same Nue that killed Nea and it only killed Nea because Nea needed to give Mana enough time to escape. Also, yes, lovelies, the tengu is supposed to be Allen. Anyways, he's a white tengu now and everything has been a bit reset. The writing was bad and sorry about the switch in pov but I wanted this to end in 2017 so I am rushing it a bit. Sorry again. You will get an epilogue called "PRISM". I do hope to see you then. Be safe! Happy new year! Happy birthday Taeyung Kim! God bless!)