By Dyaoka
Disclaimer: I don’t
own the Prince of Tennis nor do I own Final Fantasy.
Notes/Warnings: Sorry! Sorry! I know, I took a SUUUUPER long time on this chapter. I apologize! Real life and my other fics and my weirdo mind got in the way. I keep starting new projects…at least I’m starting to finish them. Well, I guess this is what it means to have writer’s block…Sorry again! This chapter originally turned out really crappy so I just HAD to rewrite it…unknowingly it took over a month to rewrite everything…I apologize sincerely! Now go read or me rewriting this would have been quite a waste of my time…
Scroll Eleven: Price of Mistakes
“Ah…” Ryoma answered, half listening to Nanako’s explanation and half listening to the sounds around him.
They soon came to a stop upon the grass and Ryoma managed to slide off of the wheel chair without any help, and onto the rough feeling of grass. Rinko had immediately started up a lively conversation and soon Nanako and Nanjirou were talking just as animatedly. Only Ryoma stayed silent as he chewed on his sandwich absently. (He had absently wondered what the sandwich was made of…it tasted…quite unique; made of food he’s never tasted before.) He listened to the sounds around him intently, trying to discern every single sound.
There was chatter in the background. It was several girls that happen to be walking past.
There was the occasional faint musical ring of something. It must be someone’s cell phone; Nanako introduced him to the knowledge of cell phones.
Then…there was the indiscernible sound of something being hit back and forth. There were occasional shouts and exclamations from whoever it was.
And…there was no sound from his family members.
At first he thought that they had left him there, but a hand rested gently on top of his own. “Ryoma, what are you thinking about? You’re so silent…”
“What’s that sound?” Ryoma asked after several moments of hesitation.
“Sound? What sound?”
“The sound of…hitting something,” Ryoma answered. “Can you hear it?”
They were silent for a while and then Nanjirou erupted in loud laughter. “It’s tennis, boy! Don’t tell me you forgot that! I admit, you’re a better player than some of them out there, but you won’t ever beat me!”
“Honey!” Rinko shrieked playfully. “That wasn’t nice!”
But they were all waiting for a reaction from Ryoma. The boy tensed up, not knowing what to say to his family. “You really did forget tennis, didn’t you?” Rinko said quietly.
“I’m sorry,” was all Ryoma found himself saying. He could make no excuses for this; he had never heard of…tennis before.
“You really liked tennis, Ryoma-sama,” Nanako said somberly. “You were really good at it too.”
Ryoma had nothing to say upon this tennis subject. The family’s uncomfortable silence was suddenly interrupted when someone called out; “Oi!
Echizen!”
There were several pairs of footfalls as they approached the family. “Ah!
Momo-san!” Nanako exclaimed, upon recognizing a certain violet-eyed youth. “Good afternoon!”
“Ehehehe…good afternoon!” Momo greeted nervously. “I…didn’t see you…Oh, and I’m Momoshiro Takeshi! You can call me Momo for short!”
“How wonderful!” Rinko gushed, clapping her hands together. “Ryoma so rarely brings home guests when I’m around! Come, come! Sit down with us! I’m Ryoma’s mother, and this is my husband—”
“OH?! YOU?!” Nanjirou exclaimed, suddenly realizing who the violet-eyed youth before him was. The annoying brat that hung around
Ryoma!
“Eh?! What the hell are you doing here, perverted old monk?!” Momo exclaimed with just as much shock.
“Great! So we all know each other!” Rinko said joyously. There was a cough from Ryoma and a soft snicker from
Nanako.
“This is too much…” Momo whined, clutching his head. “Echizen, why didn’t you tell me this was your father?”
“O-oi! I’m not an ‘it!’ Be more courteous to your elders, brat!” Nanjirou sputtered indignantly. “Why, when I was your age, there was none of your delinquency!” Several unbelieving gazes were sent his way.
Ryoma said nothing, finishing his sandwich quickly. “Don’t ask me about what I don’t know,
Momo,” Ryoma said coldly.
“Er…yeah. Sorry,” Momo apologized. “I…kind of forgot.”
“Yes, it’s so easy to forget things, isn’t it?” Ryoma answered breezily, lowering his head and placing his hands in his lap. He almost looked like a broken doll.
“Ah…you’ll remember” Nanjirou said confidently. “But don’t think so depressingly! Otherwise people will think you’re depressed, boy!”
“Maybe,” Ryoma said with little enthusiasm. Giving a small yawn, he stretched and took in a deep breath. “The air is better here. I like it.”
“You always liked being outside,” Momo chuckled. “Playing tennis and all…I can’t imagine you being cooped up in a house all day. If you’re not outside, you’re sleeping somewhere. I remember that you fell asleep on the roof of the school once!”
“Really? Ryoma!” Rinko scolded.
Ryoma only shrugged nonchalantly.
~*~
That same night, after Ryoma had taken a bath, he was sent directly to bed when he claimed that he wasn’t hungry. The moment that Ryoma had hit the sack, he was out like a light. He never noticed Karupin crawling up to join him in his slumber.
But his sleep wasn’t peaceful.
He heard voices of his companions; foreign in this world he was in and familiar yet, all the more. They had called to him, to ‘come back.’
Ryoma found himself awoken to Karupin’s claws upon his arm. Gritting out a small exclamation of pain, Ryoma rubbed at his arms, where he felt several scratches caused by the cat. Gently touching the spot where Karupin had scratched, Ryoma discovered that it was just a shallow scratch and there were no blood. Back at home; whenever Karupin had decided to do something like that, scars usually occurred because he had never been de-clawed.
Ryoma couldn’t help but feel rather lonely. Although this world had everything he had ever dreamed of; a home, family, friends…
It was very, very lonely.
A soft mew from his cat brought Ryoma back into the current world. A rough tongue had started to lick his wound. Ryoma lifted his other hand and started to pet Karupin on the fur. Even in this world, Karupin was a sensitive creature. That probably won’t ever change, the boy mused.
There was a soft knock on the door.
“Yes…?” Ryoma called out. There was a creak; a sign of the door being opened. Ryoma’s sensitive ears heard soft footfalls—almost silent ones, at that— crept into the room. Ryoma would have narrowed his eyes should he have been able to. The owner of the footfalls was obviously not invited; hence the nearly silent noises the intruder was making. The door closed almost just as silently.
“Get up,” commanded a voice that Ryoma knew oh-so-well.
“Why?” Ryoma countered. “My leg is broken and I can’t see.”
Shinji sighed softly in irritation. “Have you really not tried magic in this atmosphere?” he asked. “I thought I told you to. Figures; you never listen to what you’re told to do. Even if it was advice, you hardly pay any heed to it. I should have known that you wouldn’t do anything…only waiting stupidly like a lost lamb for help. How asinine…”
“What do you want? It’s the middle of the night,” Ryoma hissed. “You’re breaking in and entering other’s property. I believe it is against the laws here.”
“True,” Shinji said. “But I just told you to get up. What does law have to do with what I’m telling you to do? How strange; you must really be insane,
Ryoma. This—”
There was a loud creak and a soft knock on Ryoma’s door. “Ryoma…?” came a voice. The knob turned and the door opened. Rinko stood there, in her nightgown and a tired expression upon her face. However, when she saw Shinji standing there, she immediately frowned. “What are you doing here, young man?” she asked sternly. Shinji said nothing, but looked back at
Ryoma.
“Che,” Shinji muttered. He turned back to Rinko and held up a hand at her slowly, his pale fingertips barely brushing the woman’s forehead. Rinko took a step back, but deep pools of obsidian darkness held her from yelling out loud. “Sleep,” Shinji commanded and casted the spell. Moments later, Rinko fell to the ground in a deep slumber.
“You know…if she doesn’t go back, Nanjirou is going to come looking for her,” Ryoma said, a smirk evident in his voice.
“And that really matters to me because…?”
“You’re the culprit,” Ryoma answered.
“Ah. But my only responsibility right now is you; getting you healed is my first priority. Unless you deny me the action of doing that, then I will just send you back to where you came from whether your injured or not…but healing it back home will be much more difficult than here…and the process would probably just add to the injuries you have. Like I said before…there’s something about this place that is…a lot more refreshing…than back home. You feel young…like a child here, don’t you? You feel comfortable…perhaps that’s why you’re not doing anything but waiting for help to come to you. A child is naturally vulnerable; you are not a child. I wish not to give you help, something that I believe this atmosphere is trying to manipulate me into doing, but I still keep my thoughts. I don’t give into the atmosphere easily…no matter how much it wants to change me…”
With that, Shinji fell silent and left Ryoma to contemplate his words.
“Heal,” Ryoma whispered and held a hand to his leg. There was suddenly a painful jolt and he knew that the bone that was broken was healed. “Ouch…” Ryoma muttered as he got out of bed and tried to remove the cast from his leg one handedly.
“Why do you not heal your arm?” Shinji asked, cocking his head to the side. “You truly have gone insane.”
“It’ll be difficult to conceal the fact that I’ve healed both my arms and legs, you know,” Ryoma said dryly. “The people here would wonder why I’ve healed so quickly.” Shinji rolled his eyes.
“Heal your sight too,” he said in a commanding tone. Ryoma would have glared at the other, should binds not be over his eyes. “You can feign blindness…especially if you’ve got something over your eyes.” The last part was said with pure sarcasm, which caused Ryoma to scowl.
“Fine,” the youth snapped. He got up from the bed, limping lightly as the tingly effect of the heal spell did not completely let off yet. He took off the blinds on his eyes, opening his eyes…only to see nothing but darkness.
“Esuna!” A wave of bright, colorful light emitted from Ryoma’s palm, forming a bit of a sphere around him and then faded away into the darkness. Blinking, Ryoma found himself looking at what seemed to be a room. He squinted, his vision still blurred, but at least he saw color again. “Why don’t you use the same spell to cure your own blindness?” Ryoma asked.
“Because…I was born blind,” Shinji muttered. “I can’t change that, you know.”
“Then what use was inventing that spell for if it weren’t for helping blind people?” Ryoma muttered in return. Shinji shot the other youth a dark glare, which Ryoma promptly ignored. “What did you come here for in the first place?”
“To bring you back home, that’s what,” Shinji said. “But I have to wait till you’ve healed, of course…naturally.”
Ryoma said nothing, his slowly clearing vision focusing on the walls and the room they were in, taking in all the details and such. His eyes strayed to the fallen figure of his ‘mother,’
Rinko. “She will be missed by her husband, you know. He’ll come,” Ryoma said.
“And the man is Nanjirou, letch of all letches and the laziest of all people. Tell me,
Ryoma, are you scared of him coming?”
“No,” Ryoma scowled. “If he comes, I’ll send him to his dream-women. Or whatever occupies his mind…”
Shinji chuckled hollowly. “Follow me,” he barely cast a glance behind him before walking out of the room. Ryoma’s eyes lingered upon the limp form of Rinko and sighed.
“Float,” he commanded, and the body begun to float onto the bed, her back to him, never once facing the youth. A strange nagging in the back of the boy’s mind told him that he didn’t want to see her face; it was forbidden and not allowed. It was something…that just shouldn’t be. Ryoma picked off the covers and placed them onto Rinko’s body, which was quivering suspiciously. However, Ryoma paid no heed to it, but watched the woman for a while. He gently touched Rinko’s hair, wondering what made it so soft. “So…this is a mother…” he murmured. “I wish I had one…”
Letting the long, silky hair fall through his fingers, Ryoma left the room completely ignorant that Rinko was awake.
Rinko could barely register what she had heard, though she didn’t hear much. She had awoken when the dark haired
boy—Ibu—had declared himself born blind. She did not understand the conversation between the two, but it was obvious that she was not to have overheard. There was something there, deeper…and she knew it was not a conversation between her son and her friend.
It was more like comrades-in-arms preparing for battle. When she had felt Ryoma’s tennis-roughened hand going through her hair, she had almost stiffened and flinched involuntarily. She briefly wondered why she almost did such a horrid thing; it was her son, after all, not some stranger…But he certainly acted like one.
His last words before departure was what hit her core.
‘So…this is a mother…I wish I had one…’
The words were said full of longing and need, so much like the words of a lost child. Rinko never remembered raising Ryoma like so that she’d neglect him…
For a moment, she wondered if it really was a stranger in the body of her son.
~*~
“Man!” Momo yawned as he walked down the street late at night. He had just gotten off of work; he had to work overtime nowadays due to the shortage of help around the convenience store he worked at. “That was tiring!”
“Of course,” Oishi agreed, barely stifling a yawn. The senior in high school stretched, rolling his shoulders as he did so and there was a slight ‘pop!’ as he did so.
Momo smiled wryly; “Eiji-sempai must really be rubbing off on you.”
“E-eh?” Oishi asked, and then realized that the way he had stretched was quite like how the red head would stretch. The green-eyed youth reddened as his lower classman snickered at him. “I-I…uh…”
“Must be in more ways than one…” Momo said slyly.
“Momoshiro!” Oishi reprimanded lightly, his cheeks still tinged pink. Then, his eyes focused on something behind the violet-eyed youth, to two figures walking in the complete dark. “Isn’t that…?”
“Echizen…” Momo whispered. “What’s he…”
“Echizen and…why is Ibu with him?” Oishi asked, confused. “What are they doing out at such a late time?”
“I want to know why Echizen is on his feet and quite…not blind…” Momo said. “He was kind of on a wheelchair the last time I saw him…and was blind.”
Oishi’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Did Ibu like Echizen in that way? If he did, then Ibu would have to get through him first: after all, Ibu didn’t merit enough to go steady with Echizen when Fuji was the golden-eyed boy’s boyfriend!
“Hey, Momo,” Oishi whispered. “Let’s follow them.”
The only intelligent thing that Momo could say was: “…Huh?!”
~*~
“Where are we going?” Ryoma asked, irritation evitable in his voice. He had followed Shinji around the dark and strange world he had somehow ended up being in for a little more than fifteen minutes in complete silence. Sure, there were things he’d never seen before in the world and with every step he took, he felt increasingly more curious about it…but he was sure he could appreciate them during some other times.
“You’ll see,” Shinji said under his breath. Ryoma rolled his eyes at the answer. It was so typically Shinji; very cryptic and insanely vague.
Ryoma kept silent and walked, continuing to observe his surroundings in awe. Though it was dark, there were still lights about…lanterns without fire. It certainly was interesting to see…after all, they attracted moths, something that never happened back at home. Moths never followed lights back at home…unless it was fire or something, but Ryoma had always believed that the moths didn’t like the cold and tried to find fires to huddle up against like when he did during the fretfully cold winters.
“We’re here,” Shinji announced, turning into an empty space. Ryoma noticed it seemed to be away from the areas with lots of lights and was a bit…deserted. A slight unease was put into his heart as he looked around; it was as if the shadows could jump out at him and swallow him whole.
“What’s so special about this place?” Ryoma asked, looking around the place. He saw off towards the near distance was what appeared to be a court of some sort. There was an orange square, and within it, a large green one with a net dividing the two sides. There was something tugging on the back of his mind that screamed familiar, but Ryoma knew it was foreign. He’s never seen it before.
“So no one can spy on us here,” Shinji said, looking straight at Ryoma. “You’re going to need to learn the spell to send us back works.”
Ryoma sighed; there really was no need to get so worked up over such a trivial thing…but Shinji was strange like that.
“Fine…” Ryoma sat down on the grass, facing the courts and his back against a tree. Shinji opened his mouth to say something, but Ryoma suddenly cut him off. “First teach me about this world…I’d like to know more.”
Shinji took a seat on the grass, noting that it had a different type of texture to the ones at home. The dark haired seer dully looked up at the sky, which was dark and blanketed with tiny white dots. The depths of the sky were never-ending indeed.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Shinji said. “Learn about this world on your own…I’m sure even you aren’t that clueless, right?”
“Exactly,” Ryoma muttered. “So why can’t you let me figure out how to get myself back? I got myself here, after all.”
“Yes, well, unfortunately, I’ve been sent here to bring you back. Say if you never got back? Wouldn’t that be disastrous? Everyone at home is quite worried about you. They’re hounding Tezuka and Eiji for doctors, you know, thinking that they can help your state…which is quite foolish.”
“If they’re foolish, what are you?” Ryoma muttered under his breath, his golden eyes darting to one side of the dark bushes, which was making him quite…nervous. There was no light about except for the light from the wane moon and stars up in the folds of the sky. He turned to Shinji when he heard no response from the dark haired youth, but it turns out that Shinji also had his eyes trained on the bushes. Ryoma frowned. “Fire,” Ryoma commanded, lifting his hand to point at the bushes. Not a moment later, the bushes were ablaze and two figures came stumbling out of them, yelping about the heat and sudden fire.
Ryoma recognized them at once.
“Momoshiro and Oishi…” Shinji muttered, raising an eyebrow.
“Water…” Ryoma said, his voice growing softer as he continued to stare at the two whom he had come to know quite well in his home world. Momo and Oishi watched in expressions akin to fascination and horror as water from nowhere was doused upon the blazing fire, putting it out rather quickly. “What is this…?” he asked, looking from Momo to Oishi and back. “Why are you here?”
“E-Echizen…wh-what was that?” Momo stammered, pointing to the charred bush. “And…and why are you hanging out with him, of all people, and this late at night too?! I thought that you and Fuji were going steady!”
Ryoma turned to glare at Shinji for making him come all the way out here. “Your fault,” he murmured darkly. Shinji shrugged nonchalantly.
“Echizen…” Oishi said, trailing off as golden orbs fixed upon the two again.
“You won’t tell anyone about this,” Ryoma said finally, drawing out the words slowly and carefully. “Right?”
“I-I-I…Uh…of course not!” Momo exclaimed with a forced smile. He didn’t want to end up like the bush to his left…
“Echizen! What do you think you’re doing out here? Aren’t you suppose to be still recovering?” Oishi demanded as Momo tired to motion to the older youth for him to keep his mouth shut. No such luck as Oishi continued to babble on.
“Silence,” Ryoma frowned and a sudden white glow formed around Oishi and the green eyed youth found himself unable to speak anymore. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He tried to yell at the top of his lungs, and yet again, there was no sound, not even a whisper. “You probably won’t talk again until I lift the spell,” Ryoma said with a bit a small, playful grin.
“Y-you…” Momo gasped in shock.
“Don’t worry…It’s nothing horrible,” Ryoma said sweetly and Shinji snorted in the background.
“Fuji’s rubbed off on you in more ways than one,” the seer muttered incoherently under his breath.
Ryoma just sighed and dispelled the silence he’s casted upon Oishi. “Sorry…” the golden eyed youth apologized. “I kind of got…carried away…”
Oishi touched his throat and tentatively said; “Who are you…?”
“…Ryoma,” the youth said. “Just…not the one you know.”
“What do you mean by that?” Momo asked, his voice just a pitch higher than normal, which indicated to his nervousness. His violet eyes darted to Ryoma and then to Shinji, who was paying no heed to them, but rather, the stars. “Why…” Words died upon his lips when Ryoma shushed them.
“Shh! You don’t need to be so loud. What if someone heard?”
“What’s the need for secrecy?” demanded Oishi, and Ryoma felt a vein on his temple begin to throb out of irritation. Somehow, Oishi and Momo just became increasingly pushy and demanding…though Momo had always been like that, it was strange to see it from
Oishi. Briefly, Ryoma wondered if that was how Oishi really acted. If he did, how was Eiji able to stand him?
“I’ll answer your questions!” Ryoma snapped. “Just…keep everything here a secret and don’t speak of it to anyone, got it?!”
“The speaker spins a tale and the liars still talk…” Shinji muttered. “I’m going home. Good luck sorting yourself out of this,
Ryoma.”
“You got me into this,” Ryoma glared at the other, but Shinji had already gone. Ryoma sighed. He certainly didn’t know how to get himself out of this hole…
“Are you and Ibu-kun…together? Aren’t you and Fuji together? You’re going to hurt him, you know! This is…horrible! Did you even tell Fuji about this…relationship?” Oishi persisted in his questioning. “Oh dear…what would Fuji think about this? It’s going to be terrible!”
“Oishi, calm down,” Ryoma said. “We’re not together; we don’t even get along unless we have to.”
“But that doesn’t explain why you’re out here with him and he’s always over at your house!” Momo exclaimed. Ryoma winced at Momo’s particularly loud voice. It had become to be a nuisance; his hearing seemed to have become better tenfold. “You have some explaining here to do,
Echizen! Including those…freaky tricks you just did!”
“I already said I’ll tell you,” Ryoma muttered. “Unless you don’t want to hear, fine…”
“We never said that!” both youths said in unison.
“As long as everything is kept secret…” Ryoma eyed them critically. “Unless you want to end up like the bush over there.”
“Uh…o-ok…”
~*~
Shinji sighed as he kicked a tiny pebble on the sidewalk and onto the street. Trying to get in a straight conversation with Ryoma was very difficult; he’d just might as well talk to Karupin or something…then the point would actually be able to cross. However, Karupin was only a regular cat in this world.
Shinji continued to walk, knowing exactly where to go. After all, he knew his way around the neighborhood by heart, even though it had been a short time. It was probably due to the fact that he still retained some memories of Ibu Shinji of the Earth world. Sometimes, the seer could feel the other presence of himself in the back of the mind, trying to vie for dominance of the body. However, there can only be one winner, and the seer often won.
As Shinji walked back to his ‘home,’ he accidentally ran into a wandering drunk. “Sorry,” the youth muttered as he continued on his way.
“Oi, oi…” the deep, slurred voice of the drunk called out, taking a hold of Shinji’s arm. “Wussh that? Only a sorry? ‘m in deep pain
hesh…Keep m’ co’pany, yeah? Relieve de pain?”
“Let go of me,” Shinji commanded, his dark, obsidian eyes as hateful and abhorred as the blackest of hearts. “Or you’ll regret it.”
“Regret?” the man laughed. “Feisty lil’ ‘un…I like ‘em feisty…” The man reached forward with his other hand, but suddenly found a horrible sensation pressing against his chest. The world begun to distort before him and black dots were appearing in front of his eyes…or rather, black dots and holes really were appearing out of nowhere.
“Demi,” Shinji muttered as he walked away from the drunken man. There was the sickening sound of flesh and bone being crushed and a strangled scream and then a gargle that died at the man’s throat. Shinji watched as the man stared in horror at what was happening to him till the moment of his death. Demi was a very strong spell for those who had no resistance to it whatsoever. Blood splattered against Shinji’s clothes and his porcelain skin as the man was literally torn apart from the inside. “A good experimentation…” Shinji muttered to himself as he walked away from the gruesome scene.
It was time to head home, after all.
~*~
Ryoma was muttering something about stupid timing when he had arrived back at his ‘home’ around three in the morning. Momo and Oishi had brought him home, since he didn’t know the way. Ryoma found that, despite some differences, Oishi and Momo were almost still the same, as he had known them. But when he was talking to them in the park, it was so…strange. The people before him were so familiar and close to him, yet they were strangers. Ryoma didn’t know whether to breakdown and cry or to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
“Oh…? Who’s there?” came a sleepy voice from the kitchen. Ryoma tensed up as a long, dark haired girl walked out. It was Nanako and she spotted her younger cousin immediately. “Ryoma-sama…what do you think you’re doing out here?”
Upon recognizing her voice, Ryoma identified the girl as ‘Nanako.’ Finally, a face to a voice and name… She looked awfully familiar though…
“Ryoma…”
The voice of the wind ghosted through the hall and seemingly through Ryoma’s fragile soul. Nanako was frowning at him, her dark eyes scrutinizing him carefully. “…aren’t you…?”
“Sleep,” Ryoma commanded and a light emitted from his palm and then encased
Nanako. The girl fell to the floor in a heap, completely and utterly submitted to the sweet dreams of slumber. With a light sigh, as if trying to breath out the guilt, Ryoma dashed upstairs, back into his room. He opened the door carefully, so it made tiny noise as it opened. He found Rinko there, laying there on his bed, hugging his pillow and sobbing quietly. His bandages and casts were on the floor, lying next to the bed.
“…Oh God, please answer me!” the woman sobbed, her long hair pooling around her and shadowing her face, which faced the pale light of the moon of the opened window. “What should I do?”
With a small sigh, Ryoma entered the room. He didn’t look at Rinko when he entered the room; he went straight for the bandages. He first quickly wrapped the bandage around his eyes, preventing him from seeing anything. He was distinctly aware of Rinko’s hiccups and uneven breaths as she stared at him.
“R-Ryoma…?” her unsteady voice called out. “S-sweetie?”
“I…suppose you want an explanation too,” Ryoma said tiredly as he fit his other casts on without his sight. “Please, just…let me lie down. I’m rather tired…”
He felt trembling hands upon his shoulders and helped ease him down onto the soft bed. Ryoma felt a sharp gaze upon him, demanding an explanation. He didn’t need his sight to know this; he felt it and knew.
“To start off…I’m not your son,” Ryoma said slowly. “The body is your son’s, Echizen
Ryoma’s…But I am spiritually not him. You see, I’m not even of this world; I got here on accident and ended up in your son’s body…” Ryoma wondered frantically what was he doing; ‘I’m just rambling here!’ He was feeling nervous and he could feel tears beginning to prick at his eyes. Telling the woman this was so…difficult. It broke his heart to tell her he wasn’t her son. The current Ryoma was not
her’s.
Rinko continued to listen in silence as Ryoma continued with his explanation. She could tell that it was getting difficult for him to continue; his voice was quivering and breaking up. She didn’t know what to make of his tale; a story of magic and secret battles, one of which he was fighting. He lived as an apprentice mage, under
Nanjirou, who was not his father, but his master…The boys he’d play tennis with were fugitives, knights…It was an incredible, but unbelievable tale.
“…it was due to my carelessness that I fell down a gorge and end up here…that was a mistake on my part…”
“Take off those bandages,” Rinko said, managing to regain her voice.
Ryoma started at her voice, but complied slowly. Off came the casts and the bandages around his eyes. Never once did he look up at Rinko’s face. With a sudden outbreak, she seized Ryoma by the shirt of his collar and marched him downstairs. Pass the sleeping body of Nanako they went and Rinko opened the door. She shoved Ryoma outside and the boy stumbled a bit over the uneven ground. A pair of sandals was thrown outside with him. “Don’t…don’t come back here again! You…you…!” Rinko couldn’t finish her sentence.
The tears fell like rivers down her cheeks; two twin trails of hot tears traveled down her cheeks and blurred her vision of her happiness, hope…love. She no longer saw the boy before her, except for a blur. “Don’t show your face to me again!” The door slammed shut. The woman fell to the ground in loud, choked sobs.
She had so badly wanted to throw her arms around the boy, but she couldn’t. She pushed him away and thrown him out of the house. A stranger…a stranger in the body of her son! The tears continued to flow like a never-ending river.
~*~
“…horrible. We don’t know what we’re looking at, but it’s obviously something dangerous. We recommend everyone to be on the alert for we don’t know what was done to have killed the man like that. Even chunks of the sidewalk was taken out, so take extreme care…”
The television droned on about a man that died in the neighborhood. The professionals didn’t have a clue.
Dark eyes turned to the ceiling; it was almost time.
His power was running out and then…She would be freed.
~*~
Ryoma stood at the door in shock. He could hear Rinko’s heart wrenching sobs through the door, but he knew that he couldn’t do anything about it. A single tear trailed down his cheek, wetting it. He found himself putting his feet into the sandals and then shuffling slowly away from the home he had gotten to know so well. It was time to leave…but he found that his feet wouldn’t take him anywhere. The golden-eyed youth stood there, facing the two leveled home that was before a temple.
Turning his head away from the house, he forced himself to move. The sun was coming up and people were starting to move on the road…
Ryoma had nowhere to go and found himself just sitting there, under the name plate to his home, with his knees huddled up to his chest to protect himself from the autumn cold. Then, he let the tears fall.
He cried for reasons unknown; he cried for himself and for Rinko, for the life he never knew and the life he would never be able to have. Time ticked away and the sun rose from its position behind the mountains to its spot against the blue sky. Even with the sun so high in the sky, the warmth didn’t reach the sorrowful golden-eyed boy. Rather, he had cried himself to sleep.
~*~
“I HATE HIM!” screamed a tiny red head as he literally tore apart a nearby tree with a lightning spell.
“Now, now…Eiji, calm down,” said an older, handsome youth.
“Kajimoto! You’re his advisor, of course you wouldn’t hate him!” the red head that was undeniably Eiji screamed yet again.
“Unya!”
“No, no! I am your advisor, promised to help you…” Kajimoto trailed off, leaving the ‘when you ascend to the throne’ off of the sentence.
The red head looked up at Kajimoto with angry eyes; unbelieving and disagreeing. “Leave me alone…I dun wanna talk to you.” With that, the tiny red head stomped off with a regal air about him. Kajimoto sighed; the only young heir to the eastern Fae kingdom was quite stubborn indeed. Without another breath wasted, Kajimoto walked off.
It really was quite unfair, how the current ruler, His Majesty, had just off and signed a truce with the warring east…without consulting anyone. Eiji was especially mad at His Majesty for that…the red head felt that the north had to be completely and utterly defeated to ensure their, the north’s, survival. Sure, they may be kin and really shouldn’t be fighting, but it couldn’t be helped; territory for the Fae was small, especially if they were to remain secluded from the humans. The east was without a ruler and His Majesty’s ambitious younger brother had run off to claim the spot as king in the east several years ago. Now, though Kajimoto could hardly believe it, but His Majesty’s younger brother had come out victorious in the battle for the spot as king. That was probably the reason for the appeal of the truce.
“Oh, Your Majesty…” Kajimoto sighed as he felt another headache coming on. Recently, he’s just gained a load of more work and headaches, since His Majesty was just pouring his worries onto him, the Royal Advisor. “How can you be so…thick headed?”
It was common knowledge how ambitious and cunning His Majesty’s younger brother was. There was no doubt that there was something else behind the reason he had ran off to become king of a rival territory. No one was stupid.
With quick and steady strides, Kajimoto walked back into the castle in search of His Majesty. However, as he neared His Majesty’s study, Kajimoto found a crowd.
“What’s going on?” Kajimoto asked.
“Sir Advisor!” one of the maids exclaimed, her eyes wild and tears streaming down her cheeks. “It’s His Majesty! His Majesty is dead!”
“What?!” Kajimoto yelled, his eyes wide. He pushed his way to the door, and saw; indeed that His Majesty was dead. Blood was splattered everywhere and his intestines were pulled out wickedly and strewn around the room, as if a decoration wreath. “…a professional assassin, definitely…” Kajimoto found himself murmuring to himself. “Alert the soldiers and guards! Be wary of anyone they haven’t seen around before! Find the royal family and bring them to the throne room, tell them that it is of absolute urgency that they come,” Kajimoto commanded. “…and bring someone in here to help clean this place up…A funeral shall occur very soon.”
As the people filed around him, busying with their assigned tasks, Kajimoto felt weak in his knees. His mind was spinning with the images of the dead ruler and how he was going to face the royal family. Numbly, he made his way towards the throne room, wondering what he was going to say.
It didn’t go to well with the family, as he had expected. When he got there, he hadn’t needed to wait long. The family had gathered quickly and Kajimoto told the news.
“…He’s…dead?” Eiji looked up at Kajimoto with big blue innocent eyes. Kajimoto nodded sadly.
“You…are to be the new king now,” Kajimoto murmured softly, letting his hand run through the blood-colored locks. The child sniffled, doing his best to hide his tears. “Your coronation…will be in…a few days.” He looked at the queen, who seemed to be in shock.
“Hm? Oh…yes…a few days…” the queen said.
It couldn’t have gone any worse for Kajimoto as the whole kingdom begun to look up to him for the following days. He was the late ruler’s right hand man, but…there was no need to seek him out for every tiny problem! Two days had gone and passed and Kajimoto was exhausted, mentally and physically. However, there was no time for rest. It was his late Majesty’s funeral and the new ruler’s coronation day. The red headed child that liked to terrorize the maids and servants to become king at such an early
age…Kajimoto sighed. Maybe if all this stress continued to build up on him, he’d begin to look like a human in their middle ages.
Dressed in his darkest clothing, Kajimoto descended from his room and out to where the funerals were held.
He approached the royal family, who was grieving and weeping. Eiji held a stubborn face, trying his best not to cry and whenever an unguarded tear would escape, he would wipe it off on his sleeve. “Your Majesty,” Kajimoto chided. “You shouldn’t wipe your tears on your sleeves. Here, use a handkerchief,” Kajimoto offered his own to the young ruler, but was turned down by the red head.
“I dun need it.”
Kajimoto could only smile ruefully at Eiji’s attitude. He was trying to keep a strong face in front of his kingdom, after all. They didn’t need a weak ruler in the upcoming times, Kajimoto knew that much.
The priest begun the ceremony and Kajimoto, like all the others, found their attention given to him.
Later that afternoon, Kajimoto had to rush Eiji back into the castle to change into the appropriate attire for his coronation. The red head had been rather quiet and submissive the entire time that Kajimoto thought that there was something peculiar about his act. Perhaps the child was in shock? No, it couldn’t be. Eiji may be immature, but he was by no length dumb.
“Come, Your Majesty, your coronation ceremony awaits,” Kajimoto said, bowing as he held the door opened for the tiny ruler. Eiji walked out, his back straight and his stride long and proud. He walked like that all the way into the throne room, where he was crowned King, the very day his father’s funeral was held. However, the throne was wrestled from him several years later and the kingdom was brought to ruin…all when his late majesty’s younger brother appeared…
The downfall and disgrace of the Fae…
He who asserted his dominance upon the throne and forced them all to become his minions…
Kajimoto awoke from his dream when he felt a slight pressure against the back of his mind. He had fallen asleep at his desk. With a slight yawn, Kajimoto stretched wearily and walked to his bed. He climbed in without bothering to change into sleepwear; he didn’t care either way. He sighed tiredly and wondered briefly why he had dreamt of the past…
The pressure against the back of his mind came again, this time asserting a bit more force than it had before. The blonde frowned, finding it very, very familiar…but he was to tired to really care.
~*~
Ryoma awoke, his breathing hard and rapid.
“Ryoma…are you alright?” a soft voice asked. Ryoma turned towards the source of the voice and found Fuji, who was looking down upon him worriedly.
“Fuji…” Ryoma gasped, surprised at seeing the other. Then, he remembered that it was not the same Fuji he has come to know. It was not the same Fuji that had kissed him, nor was it the one he had seen in his dream. His heart felt even emptier at that thought. He was truly in a world of strangers…
“I’m glad you remember me,” Fuji said with a slight smile as he ran his hand through Ryoma’s dark hair comfortingly. “Sleep now, worry about things later. You need the rest.” Ryoma nodded sullenly, allowing the darkness to retake him.
Fuji continued to watch as Ryoma’s uneven breathing steady out as he fell into deep slumber. The blue-eyed tennis genius had wondered what happened. He had passed by Ryoma’s house on his way to school, reminiscing about the times he would be able to walk Ryoma to school, but when he had got there, he had been thoroughly surprised when he saw the youth curled up into a ball outside of the house, asleep. That was not the only peculiar thing, but the fact that the binds around his eyes were removed as well as the casts…well…it was just strange. He had been informed that the arm and leg casts would take at least a month to be removed. The instance he had saw those tear-stained cheeks, however, Fuji had abandoned any notion of going to school that day. He had picked the dark haired boy up and carried him home, where he laid upon Fuji’s bed.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Fuji fished his cell phone out of his pockets and flipped it open. “Yes?”
“Fuji, nya! Where are you?! Class is going to start and everyone’s wondering where you are! You weren’t at morning practice today either!”
“I’m not coming to school today,” Fuji answered pointedly. “Where else would I be but at home?”
“Fuji!” Eiji exclaimed indignantly through the phone. “No riddles, nya!”
“It’s not,” Fuji said.
“Unya! Fuji, I’m coming over to your house! It’s no fair you’re ditching school today and I can’t,
nya!”
“Eiji—” Fuji tried to reason with his friend, but Eiji had already hung up. Fuji sighed.
~*~
“Shinji!” Kamio called out, spotting his best friend across the street. “Oi! Shinji!”
The dark haired youth looked up briefly and made eye contact with Kamio. His lips moved up into a small smile and he crossed the street carelessly. Drivers honked their horns at him as he did so, but he made it over safely.
“Kamio,” Shinji greeted.
“Shinji! Don’t do that!” Kamio exclaimed. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!”
“Why? When they see someone, they automatically stop; did you know that? They don’t want to have anyone’s deaths hanging over their head. They’re human, after all, and feel guilt. So they won’t hit me…”
“Shinji!” Kamio exclaimed, getting angry. “Stop thinking like that! It’s not right! Of course they don’t want to kill you, you’re just trying to cross the street! And…what are you wearing…?”
“What? Is it odd?” Shinji asked, looking down at his clothes. “I don’t see how it’s odd. It’s clothes, after all. How would it be odd? Unless you’ve never seen anyone dressed like this…then wouldn’t it be considered unique? They’ve always said I was kind of strange…But I don’t see how. Maybe it’s just everyone else that’s strange. Maybe I’m normal—”
“Enough,” Kamio said with a small sigh. There was no use arguing with Shinji. “Did you know that there was going to be a solar eclipse today?”
Shinji nodded. “Why wouldn’t I know? I watch the news too. Who doesn’t watch the news? Unless it was a hermit that wanted nothing to do with the world, of course…”
“I get it…”
“Ah, but didn’t the news also say something about a murderer on the loose?” Shinji asked.
“Yeah, they did!” Kamio remembered. “So we have to be careful! Walking alone is especially dangerous! What were you thinking, Shinji?!”
“You were walking alone too…” Shinji muttered. “Besides, if I was the murderer, I wouldn’t go after you. Kamio is loud and fast after all. Who would want to go after a victim that would be fast and loud at the same time? That’s just speaking nonsense right there. They’d be discovered immediately.”
“Shinji,” Kamio said sternly. “Quiet.”
Shinji closed his mouth, but then his attention was diverted to a running figure in the Seishun Gakuen High uniform.
“…but if it was someone distracted, they just might go after…”
~*~
“Fuji! Open up!” Eiji yelled, approaching the front gates of his best friend’s home. “Fuji!”
As if hearing him magically, Fuji appeared and unlocked the gates, opening it for his best friend. The tennis genius’s expression was hard and disapproving, but let Eiji into the house anyway. “You shouldn’t ditch school like that,
Eiji.”
“You shouldn’t either, nya,” Eiji countered. He eyed a pair of unknown sandals that lay there unceremoniously at the front of Fuji’s door. “Is someone else over?”
“I guess you could say that…” Fuji said as he led the red head into the house.
“Who’s over?”
“…Ryoma,” Fuji answered softly. Eiji’s eyes widened.
“Ochibi’s here?”
“He’s sleeping, try not to be so loud,” Fuji said and Eiji nodded, then rushed upstairs to see the younger boy.
The red head opened the door to Fuji’s room quietly and saw upon the bed none other than Echizen
Ryoma. Eiji suppressed a little frown at seeing that the boy no longer had his bandages and casts.
“I found him outside of his home,” Fuji explained from behind Eiji. “I tried to call his house, but the phone lines are all disconnected. I wonder what happened…”
“Unya…how horrible,” Eiji murmured. “Lucky you came along, ne, Fuji? Otherwise the murderer could have gotten to him,
nya…”
“Murderer?” Fuji asked, looking to his best friend for enlightenment on the subject.
“It was on the news earlier today,” Eiji explained. “Some guy was murdered last night around our neighborhood,
nya. They don’t know how the guy was murdered or who it was, but they’ve never seen anything like it before…They said it was kinda like magic.”
“Magic, eh?” Fuji murmured contemplatively. His gaze shifted over to Ryoma, who lay quite still in bed, his breath coming out unevenly yet again. He must be plagued with a nightmare.
“Fuji, I know you’re worried about him, but please don’t do anything rash…” Eiji said meekly.
“Rash? Now why would I do something rashly?” Fuji asked, feigning the epitome of innocence.
Eiji sighed. “Unya…”
However, before either could say another word, the front speakerphone rang. “Oh? Who could it be?” Fuji wondered out loud as he walked downstairs with Eiji trailing a bit behind him. He pressed the button for the speaker on the other end to talk. “Yes?”
“This is Ibu,” came the reply.
“And Kamio!” came the familiar and energetic voice of the Fudoumine High’s speed ace. “Hurry and let us in before the teachers chasing us catch us!”
Eiji and Fuji exchanged glances. Fuji pressed the automatic unlock button for his front gates. “The gates are unlocked, come on in,” he said into the speakerphone.
A few moments later, both Fudoumine High juniors were let into the house; Kamio was ranting and raving about ditching school while everything that the red head was saying seemed to be floating through one ear and out the other for Ibu Shinji. Fuji just gave Shinji the evil eye the whole time. Eiji rolled his eyes.
“Of all places, why did you come here?” Fuji asked.
Kamio paused in the middle of his ranting to look at Fuji. “Uh…”
“It was close by,” came the straightforward answer from Shinji. Fuji didn’t look convinced.
~*~
We don’t have any time left.
Says who?
No one. But our time is gone and wasted.
I don’t understand…
You don’t have to. Do you remember what Nanjirou had taught you all those years ago?
Yes. I’m not abysmal in my memory.
Good. I’m sure you’ll do fine then.
…Eh?
Ryoma awoke to a loud voice yelling at the top of their lungs. With a slight moan, Ryoma crawled out of bed and stepped onto the floor. It was warm and fluffy, quite unlike the usual cold, hard wood floorboards at home. Ryoma looked down and saw that it was carpeted. With a slight wince, he got to his feet and stepped out of the room and into the hall. He followed the loud voice to the staircase, where it seemed to be emanating from.
Well, Fuji, Eiji, and Shinji were there. An unknown red head (the one who was ranting and raving) stood beside them, yelling into Shinji’s ears. Ryoma briefly wondered how the other could stand it.
“Ryoma…” Fuji whispered, noticing the dark haired youth.
“Fuji,” Ryoma greeted, not knowing how he should act around the blue-eyed genius.
“Can you see…?” Fuji asked, reaching forward and grasping the boy’s hand, which was cold and clammy to the touch. Fuji brought his other hand up to brush away stray strands of hair that obscured the golden orbs from sight.
“I’m…alright,” Ryoma whispered in return, clutching Fuji’s hand in return. It was warm and he didn’t want to loose the warmth…the warmth of love and care. The rejection from his mother…no, not mother—he’s never had a mother—but the woman Rinko was very painful. He had grown quite attached to her in the short time he was with her, in his ‘home.’ He had fallen in love with the feeling of home and never wanted to leave; he had fallen in love with a mother’s love, but was scorned in the end. It was upsetting for him and he didn’t want to lose Fuji too. So he wouldn’t tell the genius anything. “Don’t leave me alone,” he whispered softly, like a broken doll, in a way so that only Fuji heard the soft plea.
Fuji smiled and drew Ryoma close, putting his arms around the smaller youth. Fuji led the way into the living room, where he seated Ryoma onto the most comfortable sofa in the room. “Eiji, could you go to the kitchen and get some drinks for all of us?”
The bouncy red head nodded and off he went into the kitchen, whistling a light tune as he went.
Fuji opened his mouth to say something, but Ryoma beat him to it.
“I got your message,” Ryoma muttered to Shinji.
“Good. We leave before noon,” was the curt reply Shinji gave to Ryoma, but his dark gaze was upon Fuji. The blue-eyed youth stared back, undaunted. A slight twinge of jealousy ran through him, wondering what was Shinji and Ryoma were speaking about.
“What are you talking about?” Kamio asked, looking from Shinji to Ryoma and back.
“Yeah, what are you talking about, nya?” Eiji asked, setting cups of tea down in front of them all.
“We don’t have time to discuss this in full detail…” Shinji said, looking at his watch. It read 10:15 AM. They had, more or less, one hours and forty-five minutes. “But simply put, we are not the people you knew.”
“What?” came the confused question of Kikumaru Eiji.
Ryoma held his breath and held onto Fuji’s hand tighter. Fuji smiled reassuringly to the other youth and ran his thumb lightly over the back of Ryoma’s hand in a comforting manner.
“We are…mages from another world, transported into these bodies on accident…” Ryoma said, looking at Fuji, his eyes searching the other’s eyes for any sign of repulsion or hatred. There was none, only confusion. “Right now…we’re looking for a way back home…”
“Fuji Syusuke,” Shinji interrupted. “We need your help to get back.”
Fuji frowned, looking over to Shinji. “What…?”
“You are the link,” Shinji said. “The one that will help us…” His dark eyes strayed to
Ryoma. “You want your beloved back, no?”
Ryoma’s eyes widened at Shinji’s last sentence. “But—!”
“You are not the Ryoma of this world and he is not the Fuji of this world either. Do not get yourself confused; he is not the one that you’ve given your heart to,” Shinji said softly.
“Wait! Wait! Wait!” Kamio exclaimed. “What in the world is going on?! This had better not be some sick joke between the two of you! How can you even prove that you’re some…aliens from another world?!”
“We never said we were aliens,” Shinji said with a slight frown. “Where did you get that idea from? Sure, we may be alien to you, but we’re not aliens. We’re very much human like you, or otherwise we wouldn’t be able to live on this planet or these bodies. I don’t see how we’re some aliens from your science-fiction movies…”
“…I don’t understand, nya…” Eiji said. “You and you…” he looked to Ryoma and Shinji, “is Ochibi and
Ibu. Your bodies are also Ochibi and Ibu. Is there a difference?”
“No,” Shinji answered. “I am…Ibu Shinji. That is my given name and I was born into the Ibu clan. That is
Ryoma; he has no family, hence no family name. He and I both apprenticed under the same master for a time,
Nanjirou. Our world has the same people and faces and the differences are…well, we’re born in another world where magic exists. Though…in this world, magic exists as well, though humanoid magic, which we use, is enhanced tenfold, almost.”
“I…don’t get it, nya…” Eiji said, his head spinning with confusion.
“It’s alright if you don’t get it,” Ryoma murmured, his grip on Fuji’s hand loosening. “We’re…leaving soon anyway. It shouldn’t really matter.”
“Of course it matters! You’re in their bodies, right?!” Kamio exploded, looking from Shinji to
Ryoma. The golden-eyed boy winced at the volume.
“Shinji, what is the process? I hope it doesn’t take too long,” Ryoma said, ignoring the loud red head.
“It shouldn’t. Half an hour is the most, I’m guessing,” Shinji said. He glanced at his watch again and noticed that a little over fifteen minutes had passed. “Every second counts now. Do any of you know of an empty lot that we can use around here?”
“Yeah,” Eiji answered. “But why, nya?”
“You’ll see,” Shinji said mysteriously. “Of course you’ll see…”
~*~
It took half an hour for them to get to the empty lot that Eiji knew about. It seemed to have been an abandoned construction ground that had been changed into a playground for toddlers—there was no one there, however, as that the place seemed to have gotten too dangerous for the children to play at. Weeds had grown in many of the places, in some places it was so high up that it reached Ryoma’s knees. He’d never seen weeds growing that high before, even in forests and jungles back at home.
“You have learned about the links in the human mind before, have you not?” Shinji asked. Ryoma nodded. “Don’t screw this up; you only have this one chance.”
“Fuji,” Ryoma said softly, turning to the tan haired youth next to him. “I…I need your permission…to go through your mind.”
“Why?” Fuji asked.
“To find the link back home. You hold a strong link to…Echizen Ryoma. That will bring him back here, and allow us to go home,” Ryoma explained softly. “Do you, Fuji
Syusuke, allow me to go through your mind?”
“Yes,” Fuji said with a bit of a hesitation.
“Alright,” Ryoma said, stepping up to Fuji and closed his eyes, letting his hands ghost over Fuji’s shoulders and then to the other’s neck in a graceful manner. A soft glow encompassed them and suddenly, Fuji was aware of an intense pain running throughout his entire body.
“Fuji!” both Kamio and Eiji exclaimed when the youth fell to his knees in pain. Shinji stopped them before they got to close.
“Trust me,” Ryoma whispered to the blue-eyed tennis genius. “Please.”
There was a pleading tone in the other’s voice that Fuji could not resist. He sighed and tried to relax his mind, feeling a pressure there, knowing somehow that the presence was Ryoma.
In his mind, Ryoma saw all of Fuji’s links, the tiny strings of fate that connected each of them to another. Though there were several that were particularly strong, they all seemed to tear off in the same direction, except one. It wound its way around so many of the other links that it was almost impossible to discern. Ryoma chose that link to follow.
To any random onlooker, what Ryoma was doing may be seen as strange and stupid, but to the two people involved, it was a painful and difficult process. The dark haired boy was moving his arms around, as if pushing things out of the way and trying to find something, movements under his eyelids attested to the fact that he was seeing things and looking and searching.
“Ryoma. Hurry,” came the sudden, urgent voice of Shinji.
“It’s a solar eclipse, nya!” Eiji exclaimed suddenly, looking up at the sky when he had felt a shadow pass over him. Indeed, the sun seemed to be consumed by the shadow of the moon that was passing at a very slow rate. “It’s…!”
“I found it!” Ryoma exclaimed, he made sure to keep a good hold of the link that would lead him and Shinji home. He opened his eyes to find Shinji on the ground, clutching his chest, as if in immense pain. “What are you doing? We don’t have time!”
“Yeah…so hurry and go…” Shinji muttered. “I cannot…” He coughed and then his eyes widened. He turned his hands in front of his eyes, and then looked up at the sky. “I…” He was overcome by another coughing fit.
“Shinji!”
“Ryoma!” yelled a voice…a voice that Ryoma knew oh-so-well. It was one that almost startled Ryoma into letting go of the link. Fuji looked up with a tired and pain-laced expression to the speaker. It was Rinko. “Ryoma!” she yelled again. “I’m sorry!” She ran forward, embracing her son. “I’m so, so sorry…”
That was almost all it took for Ryoma to let go of the link, but suddenly, a force of magic took hold of him and forced him back and through the link. He felt himself falling and being separated from Rinko by a thick wall of ice. However, he caught sight of her face. It was completely unlike his own, gentle and kind and sad. Tears stained her cheeks and her eyes were red with all the crying she had done.
At that moment, the eclipse had completely shadowed them all.
~*~
“S-Somebody!” yelled a servant as she ran down the hall. “Help!”
Momo came running at the yell, wondering what was wrong. “What’s happening?” he asked.
“M-master Shinji and…!”
That was all he needed to hear before running off down the hall towards Ryoma and Shinji’s room. He didn’t care if the place he was staying at wasn’t his home nor did he care if it was inconsiderate, but he shouted at the top of his lungs anyway. “IT’S RYOMA AND SHINJI!!!!”
That brought several pairs of running feet to the room as well. By the time Momo had got there, Fuji and Taka were already in the room. The bedridden occupants were glowing a light hue, though Ryoma’s was a soft golden-white color while Shinji’s was flaring out like a black flame. The blind Seer’s eyes opened abruptly, staring at the ceiling blankly. The breaths from him had gone erratic and shallow. “Sh-Shinji…are you alright?” Taka reached forward to shake the other on the shoulder, but Tezuka reached out stopped him.
“Don’t touch him. Something’s wrong.”
Then, the aura around Shinji disappeared completely. However, on the other side of the room, Ryoma’s aura increased and he opened his eyes. With a slight groan, he lifted his hand to his head, muttering something about ‘rough landing.’ “R-Ryoma…?” Fuji murmured uncertainly, grasping the golden-eyed boy’s hand. The aura around him dimmed.
“Fuji?” the boy moaned, his hand tightening on the blue-eyed one. A small smile broke out upon the tan haired youth’s face.
“So,” murmured a quiet voice. “You are the one they chose.” All heads turned to Shinji, who rose from the bed he was on with a strange, elegant grace.
“Shinji, are you alright? Do you need anything?” Taka asked. The dark haired youth stared at Taka for a moment and then diverted his attention back to Ryoma.
“So…that is the name of this body I posses…” Shinji murmured, looking at the palm of his hand. “Quite strange…I cannot see anything, yet I know where everything is. What an odd body.”
“Who are you?” Tezuka asked, his tone low and dangerous.
“Who else could I be? This boy was suppose to have died as a child, but was given to me as a vessel…Instead, he drew upon my powers, the wicked little brat,” said the being that possessed Shinji. “Of course I would break through, what did he think I was? A toy?” Shinji threw his head back in icy laughter, and in that brief moment, they saw not the Seer, but a woman of ice.
“Shiva…” Tezuka murmured. “So that’s why he was expelled from the Ibu clan…He held the Diamond.”
“Yes, he held my diamond,” Shiva said, reaching up to Shinji’s chest. Suddenly, a long spear of ice appeared and punctured straight through the Seer’s heart. Ryoma gasped, as well as Taka and Oishi. Fuji’s eyes had turned as hard as stone and the rest were ready to put up a fight. Blood dripped to the ground messily from the spear and with one fluid motion, it was pulled out by Shiva. She reached into the wound, dying Shinji’s fingers a deep crimson and pulled out diamond covered in blood. “He was only able to live because of me. And now, I take his life in return.”
She smiled icily at them.
“I am Shiva, the Queen of Ice.”
--To Be Continued…
HOLY CRAP BUTT!!! (My new favorite saying of the month.) Guess how many words are in THIS chapter?!?! GUESS! GUESS! GUESS!!! The answer is 10,798!!! Gaaah!!! So kill me now…