Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Ex Machina ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Dragon Ex Machina

 

DISC: I do not own Pet Shop of Horrors or its characters. These are the property of mangaka Matsuki Akino and publishing house Tokyopop (in the U.S., anyway). I make no profit from this story. Please don't sue.

 

 

Chapter VIII

 

Leon was dreaming.

 

It was a dream he'd had so many times in the past two years. Standing on the deck of the ship, he marveled at the pets that he could finally - finally - see as people, not just mindless animals. In reality, he'd stopped thinking of them as animals a long time before he actually was able to see them, he'd talked to them and seen them interacting with D and Chris - and himself - too often to not on some level realize they were people in their own right. He reached toward D, saw the tears streaming down those porcelain cheeks, but before he could wipe even one tear away, the Count pushed him off. The Count pushed him off the ship and he fell, fell, fell - still reaching toward D with all his being.

 

Every time he had this dream, he'd wake up with a start. As he fought to consciousness, the sense of overwhelming loss felt almost as if he were drowning. Unconsciously, he knew, if he could duck, dodge the blow, get to the Count and… and…

 

And then he'd be awake.

 

But right now, the dream was just beginning. He was floating in the clouds, thinking about D. And other things. He hadn't sighted the ship yet.

 

+++What will you do even do if you get to the Count?+++

 

The thought his mind threw at him was not unfamiliar, even if the voice he'd heard it in was. He'd considered it many times in the waking hours. It was interesting to be this aware of his dream while he *was* dreaming. Maybe this time he'd be able to get to him. And then he'd… What *would* he do? He wasn't sure.

 

He cringed, wondering at the lie in his own thoughts.

 

Oh, he knew that he knew what he'd do. But he also didn't know. For some reason, he couldn't know - wouldn't let himself decide for certain. Probably one day, he'd admit to himself what he knew, so that he could know it outright. But most mornings when he woke from the dream (nightmare?) he'd instinctively know that day was a long way off. It didn't stop him from wishing he could just make it to the Count - just once.

 

He'd quit his job on the force for this - but not until almost nine months after the Count had left. Well, change is difficult. The force was familiar. And Leon was a creature of justice. So it made sense that making that decision would be difficult.

 

He didn't have a ton of money, so he had to work odd jobs wherever he went so that he could continue on, earn enough for gas or fare to his next destination. Every day was uncertain - there was absolutely no security from one day to the next. He was surprised by how little that bothered him.

 

In fact, nothing much bothered him at all any more. Except finding D. And that damned dream that left him feeling like he'd missed the most important thing - and that he had to figure it out before he'd be able to find D.

 

And he had to find D. Had to tell him…

 

++Surprisingly, he's become much quieter in his time apart from D.++

 

Yes, enough so that even *he* could tell the difference. His temper was kept in check most of the time. The little things didn't get to him like they used to. But the big things still did.

 

Like seeing the innocent victimized. That would send him into a rage and compel him into selfless action.

 

++Just like always.++

 

Somehow, in almost every town he stopped in his search for D, he found himself helping out some poor soul. He really had no idea how it happened, but those in need seemed to gravitate to him, share their sad tales, and then the next thing he knew, he was helping them out.

 

Sometimes, all it took was a punch to someone's jaw or an angry glance to set things right.

 

In Atlanta, he'd acted as hired muscle for a woman to give her enough courage to confront the ex-husband who left her for a younger woman and demand he return the locket that had belonged to her mother - the one he had claimed had been lost, but which she had then seen around the neck of the young girl her ex had taken as a “replacement” wife. Just standing by the woman's side and scowling at the idiot man - who apparently was not only in the throes of a mid-life crisis, but who had also apparently lost all sense of taste (the new “wife” was a complete skank!) - had been enough to convince the lying weasel to remove the piece of jewelry from around the bimbo's neck and hand it over. Afterwards, the woman he'd helped had been so thankful that she'd cried. In gratitude, she'd given him a Bible as a reward - and hidden a couple hundred dollars and a thank you note inside.

 

And there were other times, when instead of a loud, fiery rage, he found himself compressing his fury into a cold burn.

 

Like the time he'd talked to a young kid in Phoenix who was skipping school. From the expression on the kid's face, he'd expected that the boy to say he was being picked on by his peers. When Leon figured out from the kid's roundabout wordings that the reason he was skipping was that one of his teachers had been touching him inappropriately, he'd practically blacked out. When he regained his senses, it turned out he had brought the boy to the police and convinced the boy and his parents to press charges. He'd helped the cops set up a situation where the boy could feel safe and yet they could still catch the teacher in the act.

 

The monster (funny how that word made him think of D and wonder if D would agree with this definition, agree that this type of monster really did deserve to be slaughtered into oblivion, because Leon certainly thought so and if D agreed, then they'd have something to agree on for once) would be in jail until he was a very old man. If he survived that long. He'd heard that a lot of criminals had been raped as kids. And they had very long memories. They didn't like the idea of someone doing to an innocent kid what had been done to them.

 

+++But getting the man arrested wasn't your first thought on what to do.+++

 

No. His first thought was to find a den of rattlers, then throw the monster in and let nature take its course. But he'd been a police officer for too long. And he'd have had to find a den of rattlers.

 

Would've been a hell of a lot easier to do if D was there. Seemed like that was…

 

+++A frequent thought.+++

 

He blushed gently in his dream.

 

Now the ship appeared in front of him as he floated in the clouds in his dream. He could see D standing on the bow, looking at him strangely as he climbed aboard.

 

The words he wanted to say buzzed at the back of his head like a thousand angry bees. But they wouldn't come. Instead, he heard himself like an observer. Inanities spilled from his mouth. Why wasn't he saying anything important?

 

And then, he saw the tears on D's face as the Count told him humans hadn't earned the right to passage on the ship yet. The Count reached out - as he had hundreds of times before - his hands coming relentlessly toward his shoulders to push him off.

 

MOVE! OUT OF THE WAY! He screamed in his mind, knowing what would come and how desperately he wanted to avoid it. If only he could dodge. He knew it was coming. Why couldn't he dodge? Why couldn't he move?

 

+++You cannot change the past,+++ his own mind told him. He noticed that in this dream the echo of his thoughts were… it sounded like someone familiar… someone from the shop.

 

For some reason, he thought of that dragon he and D had birthed, who he'd never even gotten to meet.

 

God. D had said that dragon was his daughter - his and D's. His mind choked.

 

He had lost so much in such a short period of time. If he could just get to D, could he at least get some of what he'd lost back? Just some…

 

The hands slowed as they reached his shoulder. He knew what was coming. It was almost time to wake up again and struggle to understand. Struggle to figure out that thing that he had to figure out before he found D.

 

A slow-motion push sent him over the rail of the ship. He saw his own hand reach, grasping for D and catching only air. Symbolic. It was symbolic of how he felt about his chances of success. He was only catching air. His whole life. Did it really mean nothing? It sure as hell felt like it. Ever since D left.

 

He watched and his vision faded as he fell. It felt like he was falling into a place deeper than just falling back to earth from the heavens. He felt like he was falling into… into…

 

++If you could change it, what would you change? What would you do?++ Why did this voice make him remember birthing that dragon so keenly?

 

“I… I don't know.”

 

++I think you do,++ the voice said.

 

A tiny part of him whispered, `I do.' He tried to ignore it.

 

++What would you change?++

 

From the blackness, a faded vision of his dream, the Count in tears before him. The picture froze. The Count's anguished face.

 

It was wrong. The Count should never look like that. Ever. It hurt to see that face.

 

God, it hurt so much.

 

+++Why? Why does it bother you?+++ the voice asked.

 

“Because it does!” he yelled and then cringed at the thought that he was only yelling at himself. Of course, that wasn't crazy. He deserved to be yelled at. And no one else was doing it for him. He deserved much worse. Because *he* was the one that made the Count look like that.

 

+-+You did. You made the Count cry.+-+ This time the voice sounded like a young girl.

 

“I know. I killed his father,” he whispered as he reached, unthinking, toward the count. “I… I'm... I never wanted to make him cry…”

 

++Is it just shame that makes you wish to change the past? Is it guilt that caused you to give up everything to seek him out? Know that D does not blame you for his father's death. Nor is that the reason for his tears.++

 

No. D wouldn't blame him. It wasn't the reason D left, left him. Although Leon knew what it was like to lose a parent, to watch them die right there in front of you - he knew that the guilt he felt was of his own accord, not because he thought killing D's father was what had made him cry. But even though he wasn't sure what he'd done to cause D's tears, it didn't change the fact that Leon had made the Count cry.

 

And it didn't change the fact that they'd both chosen something else as first place. He'd killed D's father in front of him, D had left him.

 

He really wasn't sorry that he'd killed D's father. And he didn't honestly think that D's father blamed him for it either - after all, the guy had said just an hour before, “In Eden, the only rule is kill or be killed.” All animals struggle to survive. Weren't humans animals, too? Somehow, he felt like D's tears proved that they weren't - would never be.

 

But it was crazy, trying to kill every human on the planet - wasn't it? Just as crazy as that bastard prince who'd started the whole thing by freaking out when D's princess ancestor rejected him. Hitler-crazy. Everyone gets rejected at some time or another. Taking it out on an entire race of beings? Even an entire family was nuts. Monstrous.

 

Leon had been rejected more times than he could count. Most of the time, it wasn't any big deal at all. And the time when it was… Well, you did things that were more productive than revenge. You tried again. You found them and talked to them and tried to convince them that they should change their mind. And if that didn't work, you at least tried to find a way to help make the person happy. Because when you love someone, *their* happiness is always more important than your own.

 

The image of D's crying face burned him. He wanted to squeeze his eyes tight so he didn't have to see it anymore. But it was a dream, so it didn't matter. He'd still see it, even with eyes closed. He saw it every single night. It wouldn't surprise him if there was no way he could bring those tears to an end.

 

Sometimes, he wondered why he was still looking for D. D wouldn't want to see him. Why would he? He probably hated him. Even if he ever found D again, he probably wouldn't even get a chance to grab him and…

 

+++Idiot. He was crying because of leaving you. Not because of his dad or revenge or anything stupid like that!+++ The voice was urgent this time.

 

“Because… what?” D had pushed him off the boat. All animals were allowed on D's ship except humans.

 

++Aren't humans animals, too?++

 

Why couldn't he… Why? Why would he cry because… Why would he… Why did his heart stop and then beat so fast at that thought. “D…”

 

+++Would you wake up and smell the pheromones? We need you back.+++

 

++But you are correct in that we cannot allow you near him until you determine what you truly want of the Count. And then, if we agree, we will ensure you have the opportunity you need…++

 

He woke from the dream thinking, `Opportunity I need to do what?' And then his first spoken words of the day, which he knew meant today was going to be a doozy, “Aw, shit.”

 

 

 

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