Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down ❯ Give It All Away ( Chapter 6 )

Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down



Give It All Away



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Words broke through the haze surrounding my mind, but they dimmed and sharpened at odd intervals. When the voices spoke they were in low raspy tones, like old paper being shuffled or the sputtering of static across a television set.


"Geez, Farfie, what did you do, roll him in the dirt and grass?"


"….I can't see if any of his wounds are Healed if you won't move out of the way, Schuldig…."


"I'm amazed at how quickly he healed from so many injuries." A female said in slight wonder.


Soon the words became meaningless babble as the darkness rose again to swallow consciousness.


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"….Kenken…." Someone whispered cautiously, long fingers brushing across the bangs scattered across my forehead. I tilted my head against the soft touch, the cool brush of skin soothing along the heat burning beneath my own flesh.


'Who is calling me?' I wondered silently.


"Come on Kenken, open your eyes." The same voice asked, fingertips brushing along closed eyelids.


Eyelashes flickered and I managed to force my eyes open, hands unconsciously trying to rise up to brush away long strands of tangled hair yet to my surprise I found that I was unable to move, hands locked tight behind my back. I lifted my head, scanning the area where I lay with bleak curiosity. I was situated on my right side in the middle of a large bed, pillows laid out beneath my head and shoulders to make me as comfortable as possible. Some sort of shackles was bound around my wrists and a cursory check found that the same type of material was situated around my ankles as well, given that the dull clanks of metal signifying my restraint. The smell of fresh clean clothes hovered around me, glancing down and proven right by the sight of large loose black sweatpants and apparently new shoulder-less white tee-shirt that was at least two sizes too big, shoes missing yet socks remaining.


A body shifted beside me. I turned my attention back, meeting the green gaze of Balinese, the tall blonde stretched out beside me, hair tousled from rough sleep. Long arms crossed over a tight shirt that showed off his lean muscled torso, low slung pants hanging dangerously low on his hips, having also removed his shoes before laying out upon the bed.


"Yohji." I said pointlessly, fidgeting to try to at least scoot onto my back, the effort useless since I only managed to bury myself further among the widespread pillows.


Yohji tried to dredge up a confident smile, although a brittle edge hung around it. "Had us worried there, Kenken. We weren't sure if you were going to wake up at all, given that you had lost so much blood."


"You forget that I'm a Healer." I sighed, voice and body strangely heavy, "It took a little bit more energy than usual, I'll admit. Forcing the bullets out of my own body caused a little bit of strain."


Yohji winced at my empty tone, "You make it sound as if it was just an inconvenience to you." He said roughly.


I glanced up at the slightly enraged blonde, "I've dealt with worse pain. It was an inconvenience how much effort it forced me to use in order to Heal faster."


"God damn it!" Yohji suddenly shouted, slamming a fist hard into the mattress, causing me to jump, "You were shot over seven fucking times, Ken! We all fucking saw it over the security cameras! We saw your body jerk from each impact and we saw the way you stared at all the blood literally pumping out of your wounds!!"


"Wake up, Yohji. Blood is a part of our daily lives." I said sardonically. Sweat was beading along my forehead and I hastily schooled my facial features to not give away my discomfort. Just how long had it been since I had gone without the serum?


Oh shit, how long did I have before the withdrawal symptoms became too much?


"It doesn't have to be unless you like being a living target!!" The blonde snarled.


'He's getting a bit riled.' A snide voice in the back of my mind noted.


'Shut it.' I replied.


"I didn't know that you'd be so concerned about your enemy's well being, Balinese." I said coolly, purposely using his codename even when desperation began to seep into my very bones, the pain spurning my rage to infinite proportions.


It took a lot of effort not to flinch when strong hands clapped down onto my shoulders, furious green eyes meeting mine, "Don't….fucking….start…with that…..shit…again…" He hissed warningly.


"Make me." I answered childishly.


The fist didn't surprise me, although it did knock all of the air out of my lungs as it smashed into my gut. I choked and wheezed from the impact, unconsciously curling myself into a fetal position to fight the wave of hot pain that centered below my ribcage.


"So you want to play the game that way, hmm? Then fucking bring it on, slut." I snarled, bracing myself on my lower back as I kicked out with my bound feet, smashing the balls of my feet straight into the blonde's stomach in his position above me. The force of my kick knocked him clear off the bed, a loud thump signifying Balinese's meeting with the floor.


'Unless you want to slice open your wrists you're not getting out of these shackles anytime soon.' The same voice in the back of my head commented as I squirmed and fought against the stubborn metal surrounding my wrists and trapping them behind my back.


'I don't need to break the shackles,' I hissed as I began to pull my wrists apart from one another, 'Just got to break the chain connecting them.'


Sharp scalding pain erupted in harsh circles around my wrists as the metal chain finally snapped, allowing me freedom to move my hands. There wasn't much I could do about the chain around my ankles since it appeared to be twice as thick as the one that had attached my shackles together. I could stand and walk though since there was enough slack in the chain, but there was no way in hell I could run long distance.


"Think it's that easy?!" Balinese roared, leaping on the edge of the bed, using his weight to lift the mattress clear off the frame and sending me flying towards him. With feline grace the blonde once again caught me by the shoulders and three me away from the bed to smash into an innocent chair situated on the opposite side of the room, the broken legs digging into my skin.


"The pain is never easy!" I snarled, grabbing a large shard of sharp wood and hurling it towards Balinese's neck, the blonde ducking in time to avoid being skewered.


The abrupt sound of the door smashing open didn't spurn either of us to halt, somehow managing to become a unanimous signal for both of us to charge the other at once. The taller man had an advantage over me due to weight and height but I managed to avoid his first two strikes and land several punches of my own before a solid punch landed along my temple, stars spinning wildly throughout my vision and nearly blinding me.


"Yohji-kun!? Ken-kun?! Stop it right now!!" Bombay ordered, the small blonde screaming for both of us to stop, Prodigy having to hold the blonde assassin back from getting too close.


I have no idea how Oracle managed to sneak up behind me but I cursed lividly as his arms sound underneath my armpits and fingers clenched behind my head forcing my shoulders and arms into a painful position and lifting my feet well off the ground. "I warned you that he would be extremely irritable due to withdrawal symptoms!!" Crawford muttered, strong arms keeping me tightly in place no matter how much I twisted and squirmed.


"I don't fucking care!!" Yohji yelled, struggling within Abyssinian's arms, the swordsman's strength from daily practice with his katana useful in keeping the blonde across the room.


"You want irritable?" I sneered, eyes flashing as I gathered my empathy, the power physically bunching inside of me as it prepared to unleash itself, "Fine by me."


I aimed straight from their lungs, making their breath freeze within their chests, providing the assassins with vast sensations of literally losing their breathe, their chests growing tighter and tighter, the throats closing, unable to open their mouths to breath or even to scream-


"Whoa there! Time out for you!!!" Mastermind interrupted my concentration, fire-red hair fanned out beside his face, emerald-green eyes flashing almost a fluorescent shade as his telepathy rose upward to answer my challenge of power.


It was like an unbreakable box fell over on top of the source of my Empathy, completely entrapping it, my control instantly shattering as the telepath's power sealed my own power deep within me with shocking ease. Internally I howled in fury as my power was cleanly severed, my control slipping off of the stunned assassins like water over smooth rocks.


"You…" I began with a snarl, my threat interrupted as Mastermind laid his hand over my eyes, blinding me yet not deafening his strong words, "Sleep and dream, kitten. Wake up when you're able to fight the drug."


And following the telepath's orders my brain and body fell once again into the black oblivion of slumber even as a part of me howled in outrage.


Then the memories began to surface.


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*************
7 months ago…
*************


I wasn't supposed to be here. The Doctor had specifically told me that this level was off limits.


And yet I felt an irrepressible urge to explore my surroundings, skirting around the various guards in their red and black uniforms. My oversized pressed pair of white pants and white shirt that the Doctor had assigned me stood out like a bright beacon amongst all the vibrant colors and shining steel walls and floors.


With near childlike glee I bolted down another seemingly endless hallway, my socked feet making rhythmic dull taps along the clean floor. I lazily dragged the fingertips of my left hand along the wall, feeling along the smooth surface of the wall.


Until….there was a break in the even flat surface of the wall, a perfect thin vertical crack from ceiling to floor. I stopped, my hand idly tracing the smooth gouge in the wall. On closer inspection I found a similarly designed gouge parallel to the first some four feet to my right further down the wall.


It's….a door….built into the wall.


But for what purpose?


I leapt like a startled feline when a short hiss escaped from the thin gouges, my hand jerking back away from the surface of the nearly invisible door. Somehow without my knowledge I had tripped some sort of lock or mechanism to open the mysterious door, the thick panel creaking open to swing inside of the now visible room. There was a sea of darkness that started inches into the room, so thick that I couldn't even see my own hand in front of me.


There was a rustle of movement within the room, the sound rough and sharp. "Who is it?" A voice commanded from within the shadows.


I suddenly had second doubts of going any further into the room, carefully taking a silent step backwards to leave.


"No! Don't leave me!!" Panic filtered into the same voice in the darkness, "Please stay. If you are afraid of the dark, there is a light-switch to your right." The individual coaxed softly.

Ignoring the various voices screaming in my head that this wasn't a good idea I raised my right hand, skimming for the aforementioned switch, clumsily managing to click the lights on, bright filtered light shining through a large panel set into the ceiling, outlining the harsh angles and sharp corners of the metallic room that was more preferable described as a cell. There was a pristine sink to my left, a toilet nearby as well. On the other side of the room was a tall open shower with a small bar of soap and an empty bottle of shampoo on the shower floor. A towel and change of clothing was shoved underneath a slab of metal set into the wall above the floor perpendicular to the shower.


And huddled on the smooth metal slab that served as a bed was a longhaired man with hair the color of the metal room reaching down to pool at his waist, blankets and pillow smashed against the far wall on the opposite end of the bed, in an equally rumpled and wrinkled state as his completely black attire, shoes and all. His arms were looped over his knees that pressed against the center of his chest, pale intelligent blue eyes turned to face me, a handsome face staring at me with silent inquiry.


"…Why are you in here?" I asked after a moment's hesitation.


"This is my punishment." He answered neutrally.


"Punishment? For what?" I demanded heatedly.


"For existing." He countered.


It saddened me, his somehow uncaring tone. "That's too cruel." I murmured.


He didn't give me an answer to that statement. We stared at one another for another brief period of silence until with a small awkward shift he wordless reached out a hand towards me. With just a moment to second-guess myself I stepped forward, laying my hand within his, surprised to find his hand larger than mine and surprisingly warm even with the coolness of the room and the near deathly-white paleness of his skin. An easy tug that pulled me forward momentarily hinted at tucked away physical strength that I had not anticipated he urged me to sit at his side on the metal bed.


"I wouldn't want to be left alone in the dark." I said after a brief moment, bringing my knees up against my chest, back pressed to the cool wall and arms wrapped around my scrunched up legs. "The silence would give me too much time to think about things."

"About what things?" The stranger asked.


"Who I really am. How the Doctor found me. Whether there is someone waiting for me outside of this metal prison. So many questions that all lead to 'Me'. But the problem is that I don't really know who 'Me' is." I suddenly had the urge to laugh at my sudden philosophical rambling, "Sorry, I'm probably not making any sense at all."


"No need to apologize. I envy your curiosity and thirst for knowledge. I unfortunately am quite aware of who I am and who my father is, and that knowledge eats away at me every single day."


"Are you like me?" My question seemed to confuse him for a moment, "I mean, do you have any special abilities?"


A small smile curved his lips, "Yes. I'm a Necromancer." He laughed softly at the pinched look on my face that revealed my puzzlement, "it means I can control the Dead. I even have the ability to create new life from bodies already deceased, bring their flesh to life once again, a 'Second Life' if you will."


"Wow. I'm jealous," My head thumped softly against the wall when I tilted it back, "I'm an Empath and a Healer. All I can do is feel peoples' emotions and Heal their wounds. The Doctor said I could even Heal someone who's heart has stopped and possibly even if their head has been separated from their body."


"That's a lovely idea." He murmured softly.


"I know! That sounds so gross! Could you imagine someone stumbling around with no head on while I try to put it back on?" We were both soon giggling like schoolchildren at the image painted in our minds. Our laughter finally managed to quiet down and I found myself wrapped within strong arms, the stranger holding me to him like I was a large stuffed teddy bear, "No one has even made me laugh before." He said softly in wonder, breath brushing along the top of my head.


The thought of bringing him a little bit of joy made me sigh in content, my Empathy feeding off of the signals of the man's own relaxation, causing me to grow even more languid in his grip, "But isn't this a little bit strange, though? I mean, two guys hugging each other?" A small twinge of regret stung inside of me and I rose up enough to rest my hands against his chest, trying to look up to meet his eyes, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I like you and I feel comfortable around you. I just don't know what other people will think."


"Does it matter what people think? Does it matter what the Doctor would think of us?" Claude asked.


I sighed, suddenly very tired. Tired of the Doctor. Tired of all of the questions that constantly circled crazily within my head. I slid back down to rest my head against Claude's heart, taking comfort in the strong arms around me, "No. None of that matters."


They didn't matter one bit.


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Three Weeks Later…
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"Are you sure I can be here?" I asked, worried that the Doctor would not agree to what Claude was doing. Claude was already pressing his luck with the Doctor, already irritating the man even when the Necromancer had been allowed out of captivity not even two weeks prior.


"I want to show you this." Claude comforted, closing and locking the door behind him, "I want you to see how it is I create living creatures through my power."


The room was unlit other than the few tall candles situated in each corner of the twelve foot by twelve-foot room, the walls, ceiling, and floors painted black. There was a wide thick circle of crimson red splashed across the floor, incomprehensible etches and designs in red scattered along the inside of the circle, the elaborate designs and circles nearly covering the entire expanse of the floor.


"It's a blood circle." Claude answered my silence question, moving past me to step carefully over the still damp designs and to stand directly in the center of the circle.


"Blood?" The smell of the fluid almost made me nauseous, "Is it human's blood?"


"Only the best." Claude replied.


"But why?! This…you don't need so much of it! You could have killed them if they lost too much blood!" I argued distressingly.


"It's too late to worry now. It was only three humans, bums that I pulled off the streets. No one will miss them, Vincent. Stop worrying." Claude commanded, pulling the sleeve of his left forearm back. He bit down deep into his wrist with his own teeth, blood trickling free between the tight grooves of his teeth to drip ceaselessly into the center of the circle.


Foreign words trickled out of Claude's mouth when he pulled his teeth out of his wrist, the wound already healing as he began to recite the summoning spell. The words were dark, low, and melodious, the Necromancer's spilled blood trembling and spreading in tempo to his voice, spreading wide into a rough circle that nearly filled the entirety of the blood circle, the human blood etched into the floor fluorescent bright against Claude's own crimson. An echoing sound like that of a heartbeat began to fill the still heavy air, the blood circle pulsing with deep fluorescent crimson light, the space outside of the etches turning a sharp blinding white, forcing me to shield my eyes from the intensity, my back against the sealed door, hair fluttering in the rising wind that stirred around us.


Unbeknownst to me Claude's eyes flashed from electric blue to crimson, pupils disappearing and the white of his eyes shifting to red as well. He stretched his hand palm down in front of him, the ground beneath his hand churning and rising with a slow steady hiss, pulsing and trembling madly. "Come forth, my childe. I breathe life into you and make your cold heart beat. Come forth to your Master, bare your fangs to the sky and let your eyes bask in the light of the moon." Claude intoned, voice fading to gravel roughness.


The ground beneath his hand rose sharply and split open, a long tapering toothy mouth stretching through the opening, jaws snapping open to screech loudly as the creature took its first breath, the intake of air rough and loud, the creature gulping wildly, long muscled limbs forcing themselves through the opening. The creature hissed as its head broke through even further, milky almond-shaped eyes burning, the color matching the crest of long spikes of hair hanging from its head, wide shoulders twisting, muscles shifting beneath navy and black skin. Black claws dug into the ground, screeching against the concrete painted surface, a thick muscled torso squeezing the rest of the way through the opening in the ground. With one last mighty heave the creature pulled itself completely out of the area which had nursed it into its present form, limber legs supporting all of the humanoid creature's weight as it stood at its full height several feet above Claude.


"Do you see, Vincent?" Claude asked, reaching up to run his hand along the tight skin between the creature's eyes, the beast purring gutturally in content at its master's touch, "I can make this once living being. It is perfect. Imagine how superior my army shall be."


"This--this is….sick." I groaned, clapping a hand over my mouth in an effort to hold off from retching, my Empathy shrieking from the putrid stink and darkness that surrounded Claude's beast, the creature reeking of rotten meat and an equally rotten heart, one that lusted for freshly spilled blood. "This entire thing is wrong!"


Claude sighed with an air of disappointment, "You fail to appreciate its uniqueness." With a lax wave of his hand Claude dismissed his beast, the creature falling back into the void within the ground, not making a sound as the light dimmed and sealed its only entrance into this world, "Hopefully in the near feature I will be able to call upon my creature again and you shall appreciate it for what it is."


"And what is it, then?" I demanded.


He smiled. "The perfect beast."


"You're insane to think that." I said in disgust.


His grin only widened, "Insanity is what some people would call a sign of genius."


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'This is getting really old, really fast.' I thought dryly, eyelids fluttering as I forced them to open. The telepath's attack had physically and mentally weakened me to where I could barely raise my arms even if the room around me was on fire.


The bed shifted slightly to my right, "It appears that you are feeling less aggravated."


I tilted my head to the side, meeting the single gold gaze of the Berserker, the man still dressed in the attire I last remember seeing him in, his long form stretched out across the bed and shoulders resting against the headboard, "If you define feeling less aggravated as being in a state where your body feels like lead and there is cotton shoved in your skull then I'll agree with you on that." One of my hands rose shakily to press against my forehead, "My Empathy still hasn't come back yet." I groaned, realizing that it would probably be another full day at best before I got my abilities back in full force.


Pale fingers tugged my hand away from my forehead, my surprise palatably as the Berserker pressed firm lips against my temple, "Such is the price for letting your rage consume you. You forced us to use all measures in order to contain you."


I sighed softly, not fighting as he rolled my onto my side so that I was resting against his front, head pressed over the steady pulse of his heart, "And what do all of you prove by keeping me here, hmm? It won't last for long. Claude is much stronger than you give him credit. Once he finds out what has happened, he will use all resources to destroy you all."


Farfarello rested his chin on top of my head, fingers idly running up and down the ridges of my spine, "The Necromancer is strong, but foolish. He doesn't realize that he will bring upon his own destruction. He is not that impressive an opponent."

"Can you summon and control the dead? Can you create a living and breathing creature from blood and bits of flesh?" I asked, silence greeting my persistent questions, "I thought so." I said, "Claude is impressive because there are few like him. What are you capable of to think that you can somehow oppose him?" I asked.


Farfarello chuckled, bringing his hands down to catch mine, fingers intertwining as he raised our clasped hands to shoulder level, gold eye shining in amusement. His other eye flashed with light as the black eyepatch was split open by an invisible force, the torn black material falling onto the bed, "I can breathe darkness and fire. I am a beast that can wield any forged blade and dip it into freshly spilled blood. My Eye sees nothing yet sees everything. It can see your deepest desire and your darkest fear." Rolling over with our hands still intertwined he crouched on his knees above me, "I feed off the moonlight and the whispered heat of the sun, the shine of a metal blade and the crimson life spilled from my victims."


A sharp ripping and tearing sound startled me and I could only watch in amazement as large tri-colored wings rose from Farfarello's back, the features white where the wings melded into the Berserker's back, the rest of the wings painted black with the tips and edges of each feature bright red as if they had been dipped into red ink. The wings flared open even further, stretching open to their full width of ten feet and full height of eight feet.


I gaped openly at the impressive sight, Farfarello darting forward so that his lips hovered over mine. Nearly invisible trails and clouds of billowing black miasma spilled out from between his lips, my cry of surprise muffled as the Berserker smashed his lips to muffle any words. The feel of the black miasma sliding down my throat was surprisingly heady and spicy, almost bitterly strong, not smothering me like I expected it to. A soft sound of surprise and confusion escaped me, my eyes meeting his black and gold gaze, hands clenching within his. I breathed through my nose to draw in long draughts of air, the sounds loud and sharp, nearly matching the sound of Farfarello's wings shifting and splaying down to half shield both of our forms.


//Give yourself to me…// Farfarello's voice echoed through my mind even when his mouth continued to move against mine, his tongue flicking inside to trail along the edges of my teeth and tease along the roof of my mouth, //And I shall give you the darkness and the fire that only I can give. I will give you utter loyalty, devotion, and my heart. I ask only the same of you.//


::I barely even know you.:: I answered unsteadily, gasping as we separated from one another, his tongue untangling from mine.


"I have hunted you for eternity." Farfarello uttered, pressing his lips against the center of my palm, //And I shall give you an eternity more.//


A spark of calm and ease spilled through me and I sighed, allowing my head to drop back, tilting my head to peer at Farfarello from the corner of my eye, "If you think you can claim me, then go ahead." I smirked even as he drew a sharp gasp when he bent down to run his teeth along the bared edge of my throat, "If you think you can have me, then show me proof." Twisting my head around I rubbed my cheek against his, nipping softly at the edge of his jaw, one hand grasping tightly at his shoulder, "But don't forget that you're not the only one with teeth and claws."


TBC


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Author's note: I know, such a cruel and awful cliffhanger. But don't worry, I'm feeling inspired, so I shall be working on the next one real soon.