MAR Fan Fiction ❯ Stolen ❯ Stolen ( Chapter 1 )

Stolen

There is a star that Phantom has made a habit of staring at every night, right before he goes to bed. It's located north-west of the luminescent moon. It shines an eerie blue rather than the golden colour the other stars surrounding it do, just as it seems smaller, the runt of a litter consisting of hundreds of thousands. It is different, and rightfully so; that is the star he'd decided he'd call his a long time ago. His claiming of it marked the day he'd given up his ability to age or die, the day he'd taken on the zombie tattoo.

The night is calm, clear, silent, as Phantom acts out his familiar routine, minus his best friend's worried voice as he chided him calmly and attempted to get him to bed. Perhaps it is cool? He wonders idly. He doesn't feel the cold much; in fact he hardly feels anything anymore. What corpse would feel such things as the burn of a fire or the feeling of metal on his skin? Phantom doesn't, so he expects that most don't either.

His mind goes considerably blank as his violet eyes rise to the dark sky, his usual night light glowing above him, reminding him of Peta's large orb. Tonight, his star is looking especially beautiful, glowing like the fiery cobalt eyes he remembers taking a liking to, reminding him of the person he'd cursed because of them. His star refuses to die, as does his second chosen one. He smiles at the image his mind paints of Alviss as a scrawny, loud mouthed brat with a burning desire to hate him and to kill him, before it morphs like a caterpillar does to a butterfly into an image of the boy as he is now, a powerful warrior with a strong will and the same flame filled eyes just sizzling with revenge.

Whispering wind glides through the castle hallways, sliding under Phantom's closed and locked door as he continues to sit by his window and stare and admire. It hadn't always been this way; he hasn't always looked at his star and thought of the boy who didn't want the gift he'd given him. The gift he'd given to only one other being for much more than what Alviss had given.

It hadn't ever been so amusing to watch his star flicker, not before the beginning of the latest war games. It used to be something to stare at as he waited for time to pass him and for something far more entertaining than polishing his ARM to find him. It is the same as Phantom's reasons for giving Alviss a zombie tattoo have changed, or perhaps not his reasons, but his emotions towards Alviss. Phantom never chooses to deny it, but he is a selfish man, full of hate, envy and greed. To have found such eyes as his young reluctant protégé possesses, so similar to his star, belonging to a mere child that was stupid enough to insult him was intolerable.

Killing the child wouldn't have been enough of a punishment, not for stealing his lasting possession. Alviss' eyes, the stubborn will in them that his star also held, they belonged to the boy far more than he felt they belonged to him. And Phantom wouldn't allow the boy to get away with taking it from him. He tells half-truths when he is asked; the zombie tattoo is a special and rare gift. It really does work to a warrior's advantage. But he now knows of the curse that accompanies it and is placed upon the bearer: possessing a life becomes tedious, annoying and a chore he would have gladly ignored had it not been connected to him.

Why not sentence the boy to what he'd sentenced himself to so recklessly? He'd reasoned that day, amongst the ash and suffocating smoke. The burning wreckage around him hadn't aided the boy's chances of returning to his friends and family free of pain or anguish; it unknowingly enhanced and caused the fire in his eyes to grow and multiply and simply blind Phantom. Why not give the boy an eternal life he surely wouldn't appreciate? He didn't want it, that was an entertaining twist, and he most definitely wouldn't be able to break from its hold. Phantom hadn't, so how could he?

At the time, it had seemed like the most befitting punishment. But his reasoning has changed. The feelings he'd thought to have been smothered and into glowing embers have reignited and now threatened to cook him alive - so to speak. He shouldn't be able to feel the heat, but he does and Phantom almost wishes to act upon it.

He no longer feels a carving abhorrence within him towards the boy that has stolen his star from the very heavens and keeps it trapped within his cobalt eyes. Instead, perhaps because of his star, there is a strange sort of appreciation or perhaps fondness in his stares. He finds himself thinking about the boy as he did about his most early of crushes; Alviss really is a handsome young man…

Perhaps it would be fun to capture him? What would it take to lure his inner most needs out and into the open only to choke him with them? Phantom did not wish to harm the boy before it was time to; but his innards feel as though they are doing back flips and he isn't sure he likes it. With a smile Phantom decides that no, it wouldn't be so entertaining to treat a being so special to him as he did those who were more like a speck of dirt than a human to him. He runs his good, undamaged hand through his blue highlighted hair, and his smile grows. Should he have ensnared the boy, he is sure Alviss wouldn't break so easily, especially if he were taken from his friends.

“Perhaps he wouldn't break at all.” He muses out loud. It would be fun to attempt it, even if he didn't succeed. He chuckles at the thought of Alviss struggling, his mouth spitting insult after curse at him, “How amusing…”

The thought of killing or in the least seriously harming the boy with cobalt eyes crosses his mind, and Phantom finds himself aching; perhaps this was more than a simple fondness that drives him to think about the young man? Could there still be love still lurking inside his shell, morphed from the pure, romantic form that lingers in fairytales into his own twisted, sadistic sort? Was it directed at a boy who because of him, could live forever, without a care of leaving him alone?

Phantom finds it an entertaining notion to muse about, as unexpected as it is - or perhaps because it is so surprising. It has been a long while since Phantom has taken a lover, or in the least one he cares about. He is sure the boy would be as passionate a lover as he is a fighter. It would be amusing to be apart of, as the boy would no doubt bite and scratch and absolutely loathe him for making him feel pleasure via his hand.

His injuries would not be aiming for amusement, not aiming for any type of physical bliss. But it would be worth it. It would be worth it because Phantom is cruel, and he feels the need to watch as the blue bonfires in the boy's eyes flicker and ebb as he gave in. Alviss is not made of stone; he will succumb to the delight he would feel, as much as he would hate to do so. To Phantom, that would be all that mattered; him defeating the eyes that mock him as they do.

In the sky, his star hides behind a monstrous, grey cloud and Phantom allows himself to slide from the window sill and into bed. His star was his and his alone; he will not allow Alviss to keep it. If his feelings wouldn't allow himself or one of the other knights to destroy him, then he would need to own the boy and show it with something far more torturous than a tattoo that gave the bearer an immortal life. Phantom wanted to own Alviss, to mark him with kisses and licks and nips he knows he'll be hated far more than he already is for. He wanted it all in due time.

His mind finds him imagining the boy in the sky, his eyes the star he owns. He smiles, “Good night Alviss.” He says clearly and seemingly to no one, “Do get some sleep tonight. I expect an entertaining battle from you in your next match.”

He doesn't linger in the realm of the conscious for long; only when he dreams does the boy and his screams haunt him; only then is Alviss his to own. `Sweet dreams' is what mothers tell their children… Phantom smiles; how sweet they are indeed.

Woffy: It's safe to say that I just -don't- get how Phantom's mind works. Well, not completely anyway. It's such a jumble of good and bad things: Things to kill, the reasons to do so, the reasons against doing so, why people are assholes, that sort of stuff. This was a challenge; really fun to write. Anyway…

This is my half of the fic trade Aqua Alta (fanfiction.net) and I were doing. She asked for something angsty or sad that included the Phantom/Alviss pairing, one-sided or not. Considering I can't see them being together under any circumstances, I chose the first option. Hope you like it m'dear! It's no where near as cute and cuddly as your one was, but I hope you enjoyed it. :D

To everyone that reads this: please review before you hit the back button. I never get tired of hearing opinions and any critique would be lovely.