Sorcerer Stabber Orphen Fan Fiction ❯ Velvet Flames ❯ Symbolism ( Chapter 4 )

:: Velvet Flames ::

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen

Disclaimer: I don't own Sorcerous Stabber Orphen or any of the characters mentioned.

Rating: PG

Pairings: Krylancelo(Orphen)+Azari, Hartia+Krylancelo, Childman+Azari/Azari+Childman, eventual Krylancelo/Majic

Warnings: shounen ai hints

Changes: Orphen will, for the most part, be known as Krylancelo, at least for the first few chapters

Notes: A~ri~go~tou~ Kat-chan muse! It's thanks to her I got this out so quickly. I demand you worship her. Worship her now! Bow before Her Greatness! XD

Now that I'm done raving...

I'm surprised I wrote this. I'm feeling pretty crappy (I'm SICK. I don't GET sick, damnit!) but I had this idea in mind. I just needed my Kat-chan muse to get me fired up for it. Thank you again, oh wonderful muse! ^_^

We'll get back to the other half of the plot next chapter. I promise. I won't leave Krylancelo's weirdness unexplained. ^^;;

He couldn't believe it. While worried he was still angry over the way Krylancelo had "handled" that situation. The worst part, Hartia thought while grimacing, was that sickening thud of a body hitting something hard and solid. He could only pray Majic wasn't hurt too badly; God only knew what would happen in Flameheart found out one of Childman's students was indirectly involved with the damage of one of his own...

Krylancelo had come out of his odd spell, seeming not to remember his explosion. He'd noticed the fallen books and had asked if it had been like that before. Hartia, tired of trying to convince him he was having visions of sorts as Krylancelo thought he was crazy when he talked like that, simply said yes.

His friend obviously didn't believe him, but he obviously didn't care too much, either.

Giving a weak excuse, Hartia had run off to find Majic. He was partially to blame; he'd just sat by and let the whole scene unfold even when he knew something was wrong. So the least he could do was apologize to the poor kid.

He finally found him outside, sitting amongst the rubble of the training grounds. His small body was perched on a rock, his fingers toying with something that glinted in the red of the setting sun. The blood-like colors made the boy's hair seem to glow almost gold. Smiling at the sight, Hartai walked over and sat down. Majic glanced up, startling them both. He was surprised to see Hartia and Hartia was surprised to see the bluish purple bruise that was making the boy's left eye swell.

"Hi," Majic said weakly, smiling painfully. There was a little blood in his mouth, probably from biting his tongue and knocking one of his top teeth loose.

Hartia took the sleeve of his green robes, wiping the blood from the side of the boy's mouth. "Sorry about earlier," he said quietly. Majic shrugged, squirming away as soon as he had finished. He returned to toying with the object in his hands, clearly and silently telling Hartia that he made him uncomfortable. Well, that was no good. Hartia would just have to try to make him feel at ease around him, especially if...

"What's that?" he asked mildly, pointing to the object in the child's hands.

Majic's fingers paused in their play. He once again glanced over to the older student before shrugging slightly. "My mother's wedding ring," he said simply, holding it up for Hartia to see. It wasn't just a wedding ring, he realized. The ring was dangling from a thin silver chain and the ring itself was silver, but faded, as though many people had work it before. There was the tiniest gem you could see on there; practically a speck of garnet. The color was red, but deeper than that of a ruby. It looked more like blood...

"It's nice."

Majic shrugged again, clasping the chain around his neck. "I like to wear it," he said softly, still fingering the ring. "I have to hide it under my robes so Flameheart-sensei doesn't punish me for wearing girly things. But it's mine. My mother gave it to be before she died."

Hartia blinked. "I'm sorry," he said uncomfortably, unsure of anything else to say.

The smile the boy gave him, though, was bright. "It's okay," he said lightly. "It doesn't bother me as much anymore. I like to think about... Other things."

The mention of 'other things' was so vague Hartia knew he was hiding something. "What kind of other things?" Majic just shrugged again. Somehow Hartia knew it would do no good to keep pushing; the boy tended to be stubborn in his ways once they were set. "That's a garnet, right?" he asked, referring to the ring.

"I was born in January," Majic replied as if that explained everything. Hartia had no idea what that meant. He'd have to find out how a garnet and January were linked.

Well, this wasn't going very well. Hartia decided to give it one last try. "What did you want to talk to Krylancelo about?"

That got a better reaction that he'd planned. Majic jumped slightly, his round cheeks reddening. "I... Um... That is..." He bit on his lower lip, cheeks flaming. "I... I wanted to give him... Give him the necklace..."

That was unexpected. "But why? You said your mother gave it to you."

Majic smiled slightly. "Well, yeah, but..." He let the ring fall from his fingers so he could look directly at Hartia with his good eye. "She told me when she gave it to me, 'this is a ring of love. Your love is powerful. Give this to the one you most care about. They will be protected always.'"

Hartia snorted but quickly turned it into a cough. Majic wasn't to be fooled, however, and he glared accusingly. "Don't laugh!" he cried in distress. "Don't!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said quickly, holding up his hands, unable to keep the amused grin off his face. "But you believe in that kind of stuff?"

"It was the one of the last things she ever said to me," he said stubbornly, quickly moving to hide the necklace beneath his robes as he continued to sulk, hurt. "I believe anything she tells me."

Hartia sobered. "Were you close to your mother?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "She died when I was three."

Only a year before he had come to the Tower of Fangs. How strange. Hartia wondered if she would have allowed him to go had she been alive. Had she been the protective type? The type that stood by and let her child learn from his mistakes? She had obviously loved her son somewhat, enough to give him her precious wedding band.

Hartia had been living in the Tower of Fangs as long s he could remember. Most children here had either lost one or both parents; Hartia had been one of the unfortunate to lose both. He knew that he used to remember their faces but he had quickly forgotten about them. Almost completely, in fact, up to this point. He began to wonder if he had even really loved them, or they him.

"Hartia-san?"

He blinked, coming out of his reverie. The sudden voice had startled him. "Yes?"

Majic fidgeted uncomfortably. "Does... Does Krylancelo-sama hate me?" he asked in a small voice.

Honestly, that was a hard question to answer. Hartia knew Krylancelo got annoyed with the kid often (who wanted a six-year old following them around everywhere anyway?) but to go as far as hate... "No, I don't think so." Hartia paused for a moment. "Unless by hate you mean whining about you following us even though you can absolutely tell he loves the attention..."

Majic's giggles ceased abruptly. "He likes it?"

"I think he just likes being looked up to," Hartia backtracked carefully.

Majic smiled down at his hands. "He's a great sorcerer," he said in an almost sad voice. "I... I want to be as good as him. I know there are better, like that Azari lady, but... He's different."

Hartia completely understood. Something about Krylancelo made you feel uncomfortable sometimes. There were moments when Hartia would feel a brief sickening sensation just being near him. At times, like when he was really angry or tense like he had been a couple hours ago, he practically radiated with frightening power. And Majic sensed it too; it was no wonder he had been so scared he'd run straight into a bookshelf.

"I know what you mean," he agreed.

Majic lowered his head. The sun had set long ago and now the moonlight made his fine blonde hair seem like a halo as it hung in his eyes. "I just want to be of use to him," he said softly. "Somehow, in any way, no matter how far into the future it is..."

Hartia could only stare blankly at that statement. Such devotion and admiration was almost frightening, but rather than comment on it he chose to remain silent.

A third figure stood with his back to a pillar, hiding him well from the other two's sight. He was alone and completely silent, his lips pressed together tightly and sienna-coloured eyes attempting to burn a hole in the ground.

So Majic had lost his mother. He was half an orphan. He wasn't unlike any other student here, naturally, but Majic was clearly one of the rare few that had fond memories of his mother.

He didn't want to stay around any longer. Taking great care to leave with complete silence, he disappeared back into the dark shadows of the Tower.

'I wonder,' he thought tiredly as he settled down into bed, 'if I'll dream of my mother tonight. Do you dream of your mother, Majic? Is she how a mother's supposed to be? Is she anything like... Zephyr...'