Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Light Meets Darkness ❯ Lover for the White Ghost ( Chapter 8 )

Light Meets Darkness

Lover for the White Ghost

By Chaosdreamer

Warning: ~ ….. ~ Geist's thoughts

It hurt. The light was hurting his eyes.

Ken groaned in slight pain, covering his closed eyes with his forearm, trying to shield it away from the pinpricking light. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, blindly clutching at the cool blankets settled around his torso.

It took him several minutes until he finally managed to hesitantly open his eyes, blinking against the slight traces of light coming from the ceiling within the room he lay in. He rubbed his eyes, trying to blink away the sand gathered in the corners. Finally managing to keep his eyes open without squinting he looked around, not recognizing where he was.

The room was strange, almost a traditional Japanese style. It was large, though. The crème and white walls spanned out almost a hundred feet in each direction, the futon that he was laid upon in the dead center of the room. The futon was strangely large as well, almost a king size. He felt so small lying upon its thickness, surrounded by black pillows and crystal and sapphire blue blankets, the ceiling high above him emitting soft glowing light from strategic paneling. His clothing was of a sapphire shade, the pants and shirt so large it seemed to swallow him whole. Ken looked around, stunned at his surroundings. The cherry-wood flooring offered him no answers. Strange that the only thing in the room was the futon and himself.

:Where am I…What is this place…:

Ken whimpered softly, suddenly feeling very lost and alone.

:Mom…Dad…Where are you?: He wrapped his arms around himself, his form shaking slightly in trepidation. Soft footsteps sounded from outside the room he was in. Ken lifted his head, looking up at the surface of the wall before him.

A section of the paneling opened up, a tall man walking in, observing Ken's state of awareness. He was so pale, several black slashes across his face and neck highlighting the

milky whiteness of his skin and hair. He was clothed in a gray attire, looking very eloquent with a slight air of power hanging around him.

The stranger smiled at Ken, closing the screen behind him and crossing the space between them in a silent glide. The man stopped a slight distance from Ken, seeming to sense the man's hesitation of the stranger coming too close to him. "I am glad you are awake. You have been asleep for quite some time."

Ken swallowed, trying to relieve the sudden dryness within his throat. "Who…Who are you?" He asked hesitantly.

The man smiled, dropping down to perch on his knees effortlessly, still managing to tower over Ken with his impressive height. "My name is Geist. You have been in my care for over a month's time."

"A month? How did I end up here?" Ken gasped, not understanding how so much time could have passed.

Geist nodded, seeming to sympathize with Ken's confusion. "You have been in a coma-like state during that period of time." He bent closer, peering at Ken curiously. "Do you remember anything, Ken? Anything at all?"

"I…I'm nineteen, I think. I know my name is Ken Hidaka. But that's strange, the last thing I remember is my parents-" Ken hissed in shock, grabbing onto the man's shirt. "Please tell me! My parents! Where are they?!" He demanded shakily, the photo-like image of his parents filling his thoughts instantly.

Geist frowned slightly at that question, Ken suddenly dreading having asking the question. "I am sorry, Ken, but your parents were killed in a car crash almost ten years ago."

The dancing image of his parents shattered, the grief drowning the broken image. "M…mom…dad…" Ken looked as Geist pleadingly, unshed tears brimming along the edges of his lashes. "Kase?"

Geist sighed, his hand coming up to cup Ken's cheek, not seeming to mind Ken's desperate grip of his shirt. "He betrayed you and tried to have you murdered. More than three times, actually. I believe he tried to finish you off personally at least twice."

Ken didn't bother to try to mask the falling teardrops, the memories suddenly rising out of the murkiness of his mind.

:I remember…Mom and Dad left in their car and didn't come back. And Kase…:

The images of his parents flooded across his eyes, moving on to the social worker sadly telling him that his parents had died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. From there his time in the orphanage, meeting Kase, both joining in their enthusiasm of soccer.

Then the J-League game, the anger and betrayal from the crowd and his teammates. Kase being dragged away from his as the warehouse around him erupted in flames that reached to devour him.

Kase's laughing face as he pulled the trigger, the bullets smashing through the glass window, repeatedly slamming into his chest, over and over and over and over…

With a soft cry of pain Ken didn't fight against Geist when he pulled him against his chest, the larger man running his hand up and down Ken's back in silent comfort. Geist held the trembling figure within his arms, shushing the soft sobs and silent tears.

"Hush now, it's all right. You're safe here. That man will not hurt you." Geist whispered, pulling the smaller man against him further, pulling the warm heat of Ken against his own.

"I can't remember…anything after that…I can't remember anyone…What have I been doing all of this time?" Ken clutched at Geist, his only foundation in this confusing world. "Please tell me! Who am I?! Not just the person known as Ken Hidaka! Tell me who I am and what I've been doing all of this time?!"

Geist eye's grew cold and hard, pulling Ken away from him to look him straight in the eye. Ken felt his body freeze at the eye contact, not having to strength to move his gaze away.

"You are an Empath and a Healer, capable of sensing other's emotions and healing your injuries along with those of your peers. You are also capable of so much more than that. You're a killer. You kill certain individuals that oppose your goals for the future. What you do is neither right nor wrong, it is the choice that you make while defending the people who deserve a second chance of living. You are an angel with black wings who carries the blood of those who you killed for a righteous cause. And," Geist grinned wickedly, pressing Ken's chest to his, trapping the smaller man's wrists in his hands. "And you are mine, Ken. My little Fallen Angel. You have been with me throughout the portion of your life that you can not remember."

Geist pulled the confused man into a deep kiss, his mouth slanting over the other man's in blatant domination.

~ And I shall not let you go, now that I finally have you within my arms ~

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To say Ken's mind was spinning was a complete understatement. After his earlier talk with Geist he had managed to acquire a different outfit other than the one's style he had been wearing while in a coma-like state for over a month. These clothes at least didn't threaten to swallow him whole. A loose white shirt with soft blue pants and black boots made him feel much more comfortable as he walked around scanning his 'home', as Geist had called it. Over the past hour Geist had explained in large detail Ken's abilities, including that of his fighting and assassination abilities.

:I have the ability to feel people's emotions and to heal their wounds, yet I have the ability to destroy those same people as well. It's almost a paradox to some extent: Ken thought sadly.

Ken sighed at the thought, brushing his hair over his shoulder. Apparently during his long sleep his hair had decided to grow amazingly long. From what Ken remembered from his childhood and his mother's complaints, his hair always had had a tendency to grow exceptionally fast. Still, it was a little strange to feel the long soft strands of hair tickling past the back of his neck to rest just above his shoulder blades. Well, it could be worse, he guessed. It would just take some getting use to.

"How big is this place?" Ken wondered out loud.

"Quite large, actually." Geist said from behind him, raising a small yip of surprise from the startled man. Geist chuckled at the small sound the man had made, easily withstanding Ken's attempted glare. "Over many years I have decided to frequently extend this placer deeper and longer than its previous size. I honestly do not remember what the original size was of this place so long ago."

"Are we underground?" Ken asked curiously. He was curious about that. The air here was cool and crisp yet there was no extreme in temperature, no humidity to make him feel whatsoever uncomfortable. The hallway he was traveling down at the moment was lined by slim pillars of clear quartz, wrapped in slim wire-like streams of red crystal that reminded him of rubies. He reached out with his hand to brush the tips of his fingers along the edge of one pillar, surprised by the slight amount of heat he felt in response to his soft touch.

"In a way we are underground. No human will ever be capable of reaching this place unassisted." Geist came parallel to Ken's side as they walked, seeming pleased by the response from the one pillar Ken had touched. "This place reacts to your presence. It senses your power and essence of your being. It seems to like you quite well."

"Is it alive?" Ken winced at that, realizing that he was asking a lot of questions from the man he had just come to meet.

:The man who kissed my and said I was his: Ken couldn't hide the slight blush that rose from that stray thought.

Geist noticed the flare of color on the man's face, delighting in the man's response to his presence. "Yes and no. It is an extension of me yet it is separate. It is my eyes and ears. What goes on within these halls and rooms, I will know. Nothing can escape from me here."

"This place is so different from the world I remember." Ken said vaguely, feeling slightly homesick. Geist caught the wistful tone in his voice.

"Would you like to go to the outside world?"

Ken looked up at the man, hope flaring in his eyes. "Can I?"

Geist nodded. "Of course. I will not hold you back from doing so unless I feel that there is a need to hide you away from the world. All I ask is that you avoid anyone who makes you feel frightened or who affects your empathy."

Ken nodded, not too worried about the requests. What surprised Ken was how able he was at controlling his empathy as it was. Geist had assured him that he had had previous time to adjust to his empathy and healing abilities before he fallen into his deep sleep.

"How do I leave?" Ken asked curiously.

"It's simple, really." Geist rested his hand on Ken's shoulder, the smaller man shivering when he felt the first brush of Geist's power extend through his skin. "Just close your eyes…"

Ken did as instructed, the feel of Geist's power flooding through his senses.

"And brace yourself."

With that Ken felt as if he was suddenly jerked upwards but his stomach, his body remaining on seemingly solid ground but feeling as if it was flying upwards at an impressive speed.

Just as soon as it had began the sensation stopped. Ken wobbled slightly from the small amount of vertigo, falling back against a hard surface behind him. He opened his eyes, surprised to see that he was now standing in a well-lit alleyway in the middle of the day, the sun bright above him while floating within a cloudless sky.

Ken felt a large burst of excitement rush through him, scanning the area around him. He moved quickly to walk out of the alleyway and into the busy walkway, unconsciously following the flow of the crowd of moving people. He could barely hold back the desire to bounce as he walked, feeling as if he could easily run through the streets without a care in the world.

:This is…amazing. I don't know why, but I feel so free: Ken thought happily, reaching an area where he was passing by a large park to his right. He walked by it while viewing the parents and children playing and sitting on the rolling hills of grass, smiling slightly at the laughter erupting occasionally from small groups of people.

His concentration was interrupted momentarily when his shoulder hit another person passing by him, managing to maintain his balance as to avoid embarrassing himself by falling flat of his face.

"Sorry!" Ken apologized quickly, looking back at the man he had run into.

It was foreigner. At least, Ken thought he was. American, possibly, wearing a cream colored suit and glasses, with black hair and brown eyes. Those eyes were looking at Ken in a faint look of disbelief and shock. Ken tilted his head slightly at the stranger, wondering if he had possibly hit the man too hard.

When he didn't receive any response from the still staring foreigner Ken shrugged, turned, and continued his walk. After passing by the park he found himself traveling further into a shopping district, passing by glassed windows displaying various items meant to allure customers with the enticing array of items laid out just beyond the panes of glass.

Continuing his walk Ken suddenly got the distinct impression that he was being watched, the hairs on the back of his neck seemed to rise up from the sensation. As discretely as possibly he glanced to the window he was passing, managing to catch a glimpse of the same foreigner he had bumped into.

The man was following him.

Ken swallowed nervously. Did he somehow piss the guy off? He apologized! What else was he supposed to do? Ken sped up his steps, dismally noticing that the man easily matched his increase of speed. The man also had a cell-phone to his ear and was talking into it in a language that Ken was sure was neither English nor Japanese.

In an act of desperation Ken ducked down into the subway station, running down the steps and weaving his way through the crowd of people. Unfortunately being this deep within a crowd of people his empathy was useless, not at a level to where he could distinguish one person out of an entire crowd of strangers.

After several minutes of desperate maneuvering Ken finally found himself traveling up another flight of stairs and back onto the sidewalk, quickly diving past the gates of another well-placed park, trying to lose himself down the winding paths and low branches of trees. He eventually came across a lone bench deep within the park, dropping down onto it with a relieved sigh. Finally, he could catch his breath.

Fate seemed to be against Ken, though. A rough hand fell onto his shoulder from behind, jerking him to his feet. Ken cried out in shock, grasping at the hand and trying to pull it away. "Let me go! I didn't do anything!"

"Hidaka, calm down!" A voice behind him ordered roughly. Ken ignored the demand, struggling desperately against the grip.

"Someone help me! Geist!" Ken screamed in desperation, not knowing what else to do. Even with the knowledge that he was an assassin that didn't mean that he had already relearned whatever assassin skills he had once known previously before waking up.

/Ken! Calm down, kitten, it's us!/ A voice commanded in his head. Ken shuddered at the violation of the voice entering into his mind, his powers spiking due to his raised level of fear.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" He screamed, a large blast of energy crackling across his body and singing the hand on his shoulder, forcing it to release its hold on him. Ken jerked away, finally free, darting forward to try to duck into the trees to avoid another capture.

/STOP/ Ken's body jolted suddenly from the mental command, his legs giving out beneath him. He crumbled bonelessly to the ground, catching his weight on his elbows, a spike of pain shooting through his arms.

"Keep him the fuck down. His empathy has manifested to being offensive." The foreigner who had grabbed him ordered gruffly as he tried to shake feeling back into his hand, towards Ken's prone body.

:These must be the men that Geist was talking about!: Ken's mind screamed, his empathy thrashing about within his mind desperate to find some means of getting away from the two men above him.

"Who the hell is Geist?" A voice ordered. Ken looked up, locking gazes with a long fire-red haired figure, green eyes meeting his own. This man was sporting a louder outfit then his companion, wearing an emerald green jacket that went past his knees, overlapping an outfit consisting entirely of black.

:A telepath?: Ken clamped his mouth shut while trying to form some sort of a shield to hold the man back from reading his thoughts, refusing to answer the question.

"Damn it, Ken." The longhaired man growled, grabbing Ken by his shoulders and jerking him upwards, holding him up so that his feet hovered off the ground by almost an inch, his body still not able to find the strength to move. "Where the hell have you been all this time?" The man stopped suddenly, his eyes seeming to blur over momentarily. After a moment the man hissed, his eyes shifting back to becoming more focused in appearance. "Fuck! His memories! They've been wiped clean!"

"How is that possible? Telepath's don't have the ability to wipe away such a large portion of a person's entire life, only very few select memories. It's too dangerous to do anything further than that." The other foreigner argued from behind Ken.

"Well someone did." The one holding him hissed, his grip tightening on Ken.

"You're hurting me!" Ken gasped, wincing at the further sparks of pain elicited by the man's harsh touch. The man's grip suddenly slackened, barely keeping Ken from dropping back onto the ground.

"Ken…" The longhaired man said uncertainly, his eyes suddenly appearing lost and…

:Sad? Is that sadness I'm sensing?: Ken wondered silently.

"Watch out! Attack from the left!" The voice behind him shouted in warning at the same time a blur of red slammed into the man in front of Ken, sending the redhead smashing into the ground fifteen feet away. A stream of dust rose from the torn ground around and beneath him, the long-haired man struggling to push himself up onto his knees.

"What-" Ken gasped as the long stream of red that had smashed into the redhead wrapped around his torso, catching him as he began to fall to the ground, holding him up within a careful grip, the feel of the strange material slightly rough even through his layer of clothing.

"Naughty, naughty, Schwarz, playing rough with the poor boy. Playtime's over. It's time for the little angel to return home." A voice tsked smugly. Ken looked to the other man, surprised at his complete red outfit and equally red streak of hair through one broad strand of hair next to his face, black hair falling around his face in a straight cape of darkness.

"Who are you?" Ken demanded, not sure if to call the man his savior.

The newest stranger smiled at Ken, offering him a slight acknowledgement with a small incline of his head. "Blut, at your service. I serve Geist. He sent me here to retrieve you when he sensed your distress."

"He's not going anywhere!" The black-haired foreigner barked, helping the other downed man to his feet. The redhead shook his head, trying to dispel dirt and the tinges of dizzyness.

Blut smirked at the man's order, his black eyes gleaming with a bright burn of insanity. "Do you honestly think you can stop me? Silly little Oracle. Your powers won't save you from my wrath or of that of my master." Ken felt the thick strand around him tug him towards Blut, finally finding himself able to stand on his feet as he was pulled up against Blut's front body. An arm snaked around his waist, holding him to his sudden ally. "Do not worry, I won't let them near you." Blut promised, squeezing the arm around Ken's waist in an effort of reassurance. "Now hold on."

"Wha-AH!" Ken couldn't hold back a slight scream when Blut leapt straight up into the air. Ken wrapped his arms around Blut's neck, feeling the answering tightening of grip around his waist. With almost no effort Blut leapt from treetop to treetop, body barely touching a surface before lighting into the air once again, his living red 'cape' curling and writhing around them like wings.

"Where are we going, Blut?" Ken yelled over the roar of the passing wind, his hair flying around his face, fortunately blocking his view of the ten-story drop beneath his feet.

"Away from here. Away, away, moving, flying, far away." Blut spoke in a singsong voice, cackling as he launched himself off of a moving vehicle, the passengers inside the car screaming as the rooftop of the car bent inwards from the force of Blut's jump, the metal bending with a scream equal to that of the people inside.

"Careful! You're going to hurt innocent bystanders!" Ken shouted, tightening his grip around Blut's neck with a painful groan when he saw the street streaking past beneath him, the pedestrians mere blobs of color beneath his gaze. Ken felt his vision swim slightly, nausea churning within his stomach. "Please stop! I'm going to be sick!"

After several seconds Blut finally dropped down onto a rooftop fifteen stories up, allowing Ken to stumble away and fall to his knees in the middle of the roof holding his stomach. Ken steadied his breathing, breathing in and out in an even pattern, trying to extinguish the sickening churning within his stomach. A cool hand startled him as it pressed against his forehead, a larger body pressed up against his back. "Poor fallen angel. How silly of me to forget that you are unable to fly." Blut whispered into his ear, the red mass of power around him sinking into his skin without a lasting mark.

"You don't make any sense." Ken groaned softly, faintly realizing that his nausea was finally fading away much to his relief. Blut chuckled dryly, pulling away from Ken.

"Beware. Our enemy is upon us. Just stay down and do as I say." In an instant Blut's lapse into slight insanity shifted to that of a killer, the man's eyes alight with killing lust. Ken shuddered at the ease the man used to shift between the two personalities.

Blut was correct though. Another person was suddenly on the roof with them, opposite of the side supporting Blut. This man was almost as tall as the man behind Ken, with short white hair and pale skin, scars crisscrossing across his flesh in cruel slashes and tears. Unlike Blut's red uniform, this man wore black pants and black boots, a thick strand of red fabric wrapped around the lower portion of each separate leg and connecting the two, somehow leaving the man with ample ability of movement. Several bands of white fabric were also wrapped around portions of his arms and torso seen through the long blue vest. The man snarled at Blut, his single gold eye flaring with unrivaled intensity, his black eye-patch preventing Ken from even seeing if the man even had another eye.

Blut snickered as the pale man pulled out a long thin sword, the gold hilt flashing in the light of midday. "Ah, Farfarello. Out for a stroll as well. Do you wish to hurt God today?"

Ken frowned. :Hurt God?: He looked back when he heard Blut pull out a blade similar to that of the person he referred to as 'Farfarello', this one however made of black metal and a red hilt. Blut flipped it between his fingers with ease, taunting the pale man with his eyes and blade. "Don't you know anything, you stupid creature? You can't seek out an angel who has already fallen from Heaven's grace. Surely you of all people know this." Blut scolded Farfarello.

"You pompous, ignorant little insect," Farfarello hissed furiously, his own hand clenched tightly around the hilt of his own blade. "Enough of your foolish talk. Give Ken to me right now before I cut you open and suffocate you by wrapping your intestines around your neck."

Ken shuddered, already disliking this strange character. His empathy revealed to him a black mass of fury surrounding Farfarello, the edges seeming to extend towards them like grasping arms. Ken couldn't hold back a slight whimper of fright from even being around the man, finding himself scooting back to press against the side of Blut's leg, the faint touch a small comfort from the heavy weight of emotions radiating off of the pale man.

Farfarello's grip on his thin sword slackened, his face shrouded in disbelief at Ken's obvious signs of fear from his presence. "Angel…"

Blut laughed, the sound cutting and sharp. "Don't act so surprised. The boy is afraid of you, as he should be." He grinned at Farfarello's confusion. "Not shocking, really. The angel is afraid of the demon. How fitting."

Farfarello's look of disbelief faded into pure rage, the intensity of it burning within his gold eye. "You did this." He snarled furiously. With a howl of rage Farfarello rushed at Blut, his sword raised for a thrusting motion.

Blut smirked, moving at the same time as Farfarello, nudging Ken aside with his knee. "Hardly." He said snidely, his blade coming up to clash against Farfarello's, forcing the pale man back from Blut's offensive maneuver. "Stay behind me." Blut ordered Ken without looking back, tilting his blade to deflect a vicious slash of metal.

"Pathetic!" Blut hissed, using his weight to force Farfarello back and away from Ken's crouched form. "You dare call yourself a demon! You do not deserve such honor in that name when you fight no better than a human infant!"

"Then allow me to show you my true abilities." Farfarello snarled, his hands suddenly becoming blurs of movement as he slammed his palm underneath Blut's chin, the man's head snapping back from a hit that would have killed a normal human. Farfarello spun effortlessly, slashing his blade over five times during one-half of the spin, completing the motion with a roundhouse kick to Blut's head, the man dropping like a stone onto his side, his own thin blade skidding to a halt at his side.

Ken was on his feet the instant Blut fell, only able to see the blur of Farfarello's attack and Blut's collapse. He rushed to Blut's side, hoping to somehow use his healing abilities to help the man.

Farfarello suddenly appearing in front of him halted his task, the taller man wrapping his arms around the stunned man and forcing him away from Blut. Ken jerked fruitlessly against the man, unable to even pull his arms out of the hold. Luckily Farfarello had already sheathed his blade a moment earlier or he would have cut Ken from the smaller man's struggles. "Calm down, Ken!" He ordered, holding the struggling man tightly.

Ken shook his head in mute denial, his struggles not ceasing. Farfarello opened his mouth to try to calm Ken further but suddenly hissed in fury as a blade passed clean through his shoulder from behind, blood pumping out from the open wound staining the front of Ken's white shirt. The blade had passed through Farfarello's shoulder missed Ken's cheek by barely an inch, the dark blade dripping with warm fluid of life. It pulled out of Farfarello's shoulder with a wet sound, the wounded man's grip loosening ever so slightly.

It was all the opportunity Blut needed. Blut jerked Ken from Farfarello's slackened hold, pulling the man with him by the hand. He raced for the edge of the roof, not even slowing as the edge rushed towards them. "Time to fly!" He yelled as they fell over the edge, empty air beneath them and concrete and metal fifteen stories below.

Ken couldn't get enough air to scream in terror, the world slowing around him to a crawl during their descent downward towards the streets below them. In a shocked daze Ken saw the large circle of black opening several stories beneath himself and Blut, the open maw silently welcoming the two men as they fell through it. Ken drew a startled gasp as they were hit by the sheer coldness of the dark void, their bodies disappearing into the ink darkness of the gateway opened up for their passage. The black portal snapped shut after them, the pedestrians and drivers below not even realizing what had just transpired in the air above them.

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Ken was thankful for the arms that caught him before he face-planted into the marble floor beneath him, Blut dropping to the floor next to him, the dark-haired man bouncing to his feet without a seeming care in the world.

"Woo! Nothing like a good jump to send the blood pumping!" Blut snickered, cracking his neck to loosen up the kinks from the well-placed kick from Farfarello. Like a broken neck would be enough to keep him down for even two minutes. Silly demon, to think that a blood demon such as he would suffer from such a minor wound.

Ken only managed to offer a faint squeak, his eyes swirling dizzily on his face. Geist easily held Ken against his chest, sending a faint glare to the almost ecstatic Blut. "If you weren't necessary to my team I would probably thrash your for the pointless spectacle you made today."

Blut grinned, offering his 'boss' a wink. "I did a good job. Got the fallen angel away from them while managing to bleed a fellow demon." Blut pranced out of the room, twirling his stained metal blade in one hand like a baton. "Made them bleed, made them bleed, precious blood oh so full of delicious life." He sang softly as he left the room, his voice fading as he traveled through the maze of hallways.

Geist growled beneath his breath. "That demon…his insanity is unmatched. I am not sure if I like him lucid or livid." Dismissing the demon for later he returned his attention to Ken, relieved to see that the man's eyes had stopped spinning. "Are you alright, Ken?"

Ken shook his head slightly, trying to dispel the twisting double image of Geist. "I'm fine. Just stop moving around so much." He muttered.

Geist shook his head, lifting Ken up to cradle the man in his arms like a young child, walking down a hallway opposite of the direction Blut had left. "I apologize for the use of the portal in such a manner. It was necessary given Blut's reckless notion of my abilities open to his convenient uses."

"But you did well, apparently. You saved use from becoming pancakes." Ken offered, looking down and tugging at the front of his blood-stained shirt. "Ick."

Geist had noticed the blood earlier on Ken's shirt. "We'll remove that before it sets into your skin. Luckily the shirt was thick enough and the blood flow less in a way that the blood did not stain your chest as well." Once arriving to a predetermined room Geist pushed open the screen door with his foot, somehow managing to kick it closed behind him without dropping Ken. "We have reached my chambers."

Ken took in the room. It was as large, if not larger, then the one he had woken up in. An enormous bed was built into the floor, the surface of the thick ruby sheets level with that of the wooden floor. The walls were painted in a light brown color similar to that of desert sand, numerous plants hanging from the ceiling to give the room a jungle effect. There was a large desk set to one side of the room, numerous papers scattered about upon the surface. Several stands held obviously priceless sculptures, the dark marble figures contrasting deeply with the paler earthy tones of the room.

Geist lowered Ken onto the large bed, the smaller man sighing as his head landed on one of the numerous white pillows. Geist pulled back the sheets, an array of red, black, pale brown color representing each separate sheet. Once satisfied with that he sat back to allow Ken to sit up on his own, the smaller man bending forward to unlace his boots and pull them off. The smaller man couldn't hold back a sigh of contentment when Geist ran his fingertips through his strands of hair, the cool hand massaging his sensitive scalp. His head unintentionally fell back into the caress, his body becoming languid within Geist's presence.

: 's strange…I feel so relaxed…like I've been drugged…: Ken's mind whispered half-heartedly, not seeming to be able to comprehend the strangeness of such a drugged feeling. Geist's eyes narrowed slightly at catching that thought, easing the smaller man onto his back as he leant over to begin removing Ken's stained shirt. Once Ken's shirt had been removed Geist moved down to remove his jeans, tugging the fabric off of Ken's legs, leaving him with only his boxers on.

Geist smiled unpleasantly at Ken's lack of response to his actions, tossing the dirty clothes away and moving to a dresser to pull out more suitable clothing. With equal care that he had used when removing Ken's clothes Geist clothed Ken in a pair of cotton white pants and an equally white shirt. Finally satisfied when Ken's new attire Geist ran his index finger down the center of the smaller man's chest, tracing an unknown symbol on Ken's chest. The invisible mark flashed red, quickly disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared.

"it's…c…cold…" Ken stuttered, his body suddenly feeling as if it had been turned into a block of ice, not having seen the action Geist had performed a second earlier.

"Then let me warm you." Geist offered, lying down so that he was on top of the shivering man, pressing him completely onto his back and trapping Ken beneath his larger form. Geist gripped a handful of soft hair in each hand, tilting Ken's head back, baring the smooth expansion of his throat. Geist brought his lips to the tempting display of flesh, the trapped man's grip on his torso tightening when his lips came in contact with his cool skin.

The instant their bare flesh came in contact the world around Geist faded, Ken's form shifting into the darkness surrounding them. He rose to his feet, unaffected by losing the smaller man, knowing that he had merely dove into Ken's mind, momentarily abandoning Ken's physical form.

"It has been a while since I have had to do this. Are you finally done fighting me, Ken?" Geist called into the darkness of Ken's mind, not surprised by the backlash of power that tried to throw him out of the man's mind. The blue and silver strands of power rushed at Geist from his front, the edges of the power forming into thin blades. Geist wiped the strands of power away with his hand, dispersing the power with the ease a human would use to swat away a fly.

"Must we go through this every time, Ken? This hurts you more than it hurts me." Geist warned. When he felt another wave of an oncoming attack he finally unleashed his own power, the invisible mass of his power sinking into the darkness around him and twisting each strand mercilessly within the dark void. A painful scream sounded throughout the darkness, Ken's mind reeling from the attack that seemed to desire to split his mind into pieces.

"You force me to do this." Geist offered, neither a further punishment nor an apology present in his words. When no other attack rushed him Geist nodded in satisfaction, slowly beginning to sink further into Ken's mind, the darkness beneath him forming into a liquid pool of darkness as he sank beneath the surface.

Once past that level of Ken's mind Geist reached the area that was under his complete control. Rather than the protective darkness surrounding Ken's mind or the soft silver or blue of the man's inner consciousness, Geist's presence within the man's mind was an array of white metal, white mist, and silver glass. Geist made his was through the misty wasteland of broken glass and metal walls, coming up to the place he sought.

In the center of Geist's territory a man hung suspended above the ground, his body held up by black shackles. Several thick strands of the metal wrapped around the man's waist to support his body weight, his legs wrapped together beneath him, arms held above him almost at a forty-five degree angle. The lengthened chains around his waist and arms extended into the distance, fading into the white mist yet tied to something in order to hold the man in the air in such a manner. A thick patch of brown hair covered his face that hung against his chest, the man's chest barely moving to draw in air. He was wearing the same outfit that Ken had worn on the night he first met Blut and Geist, the red shirt and black pants crinkled from the slight pressure applied by the chains around his form.

"Ken." Geist said in greeting.

'Ken' looked up at hearing that voice, his lengthened hair from the physical Ken's long sleep falling around his shoulders to curl against his neck. His face was pale with fatigue, eyes lost of life due to his time of imprisonment within his own mind. He offered a silent stare to the man who had forced himself into the physical Ken's mind and condemned him to this place.

Geist shook his head, obviously having gone through this before. "The more you fight me, the longer you stay here. I would rather you just give in on your own free will, but you forced me to take away those precious memories."

Ken looked at the man, not appearing impressed. His voice was soft and rough from lack of use. "I forced you to do nothing. You chose to do this to me."

Geist laughed at that. "Perhaps." He moved towards the suspended man, the chains around Ken lowering him to become level with his intruder. Geist wound his arms around Ken's neck, massaging the sore muscles of the man's shoulders. "Aren't you tired of this? Are you not tired of your imprisonment?" Geist asked, tilting his head to press it alongside Ken's.

"Let me go." Ken demanded softly, his arms jerking against the stubborn hold of the chains surrounding and entrapping him.

Geist sighed against Ken's cheek, having heard this demand more than once. "I will let you go when you make the promise."

"Never." Ken hissed furiously, a spark of life rising within his blank gaze.

Geist snorted at that, pulling away from the stubborn man. "Never is a long time, Ken. I have plenty of patience." Geist offered the suspended man a contented smirk, more a baring of sharp teeth. "I have already claimed the assassin within your mind known as Siberian." Geist waved his hand to his left, offering the image of the assassin known as Siberian.

Like Ken, this man bore the same image of their physical counterpart except bearing Ken's assassin outfit. He was on his knees with his arms forced behind his back, the black chains merciless to the man's discomfort as they trapped him within their cold dead embrace. The Ken suspended in the air looked on painfully, clearly wishing to offer some support to the assassin.

Siberian looked up, locking gazes with the suspended man. His eyes burned with righteous fury worthy of his code name. "Whether you control the Fighter…" Siberian hissed roughly.

"Or whether you control the Heart, you will never rule us." The suspended Ken finished, offering a pained smile to Siberian's fading form. Siberian offered him an equally forced smile as he faded away, wishing some silent comfort to his counterpart.

"Again, never is a long time." Geist continued, unaffected by their speech. Geist grinned up at the suspended man, "All I have to do is find the Child, then I will have complete control. Then there will be no need to bury away Ken's memories, because you and the others, along with Ken, will be unable to resist me."

The Heart screamed his fury, lashing against his chains. "Do not touch the Child!"

"But I must, Ken, or should I say, Heart." Geist corrected himself, his eyes alight with slight amusement watching the individual struggle fruitlessly against his bindings. "Without him, there is a chance that the real Ken will somehow regain his own memories."

Heart snarled, his body going limp from the forced strain on his already weak form. "You had no right to take away his memories to begin with."

Geist shrugged. "True, but it merely makes things easier, for me at least." Geist turned away from the weak man, wishing to return to the physical world. "I will release Ken's memories, but only when I know that he is truly mine."

"HE BELONGS TO ANOTHER!" Heart screamed, throwing his head back and howling in his outrage and sorrow for his counterparts, Ken, and himself.

Geist's laughter went unheard by the suffering Heart. "Not if I destroy the bond that binds them."

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Geist awoke once again within the physical world, holding the smaller man within his arms as he removed his lips from Ken's throat. The entire process of entering Ken's mind and leaving took not even a minute's time. He looked down at Ken, seeing the look of confusion in the soft brown eyes.

"What did you do?" Ken asked hesitantly.

Geist offered a comforting grin. "Just checked up on things, made sure they were in order." Neither a lie nor the truth. He brushed a faint kiss across Ken's lips, rising off of the smaller man and covering him with the smooth touch of the sheets. He ran his hand over Ken's eyes, his power leaking off of his hand and flowing over Ken. "Sleep now, Ken."

Ken's eyes fluttered closed, not able to fight against the press of power encouraging him into a deep sleep. Geist smiled down at the form beneath him, running his hand through the long strands of hair, letting them slide through his fingers and spill out over the white pillows.

Yes, everything was in order.

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"How often will you be entering his mind?" Blut asked curiously as Geist entered the large room, the taller man dropping into a large chair.

"Only until I find the Child." Geist answered.

Blut quirked an eyebrow. "What exactly is the Child? Hell, what's the Fighter and the Heart?"

Geist smirked at Blut's irrepressible curiosity. "The Child is a part of Ken's mind that exhibits Ken's personality as a child. It holds his emotions, his memories, both good and bad. The Fighter is the assassin part of Ken's mind, the part that knows logic in neither black or white, just the desire to protect himself and those he loves even if it means carrying blood upon his hands. The Heart is essentially Ken's soul. It is Ken's true personality, basically his 'self ', a mirror image of the physical Ken. That is part of him that governs his morals and beliefs, similar to the Fighter but more of a mediator for the Fighter's sometimes 'bloody' methods of protection." Geist growled in frustration, rubbing his temples to try to smother a headache. "I had thought that capturing the Heart would give me complete control over Ken's memories, but I find out that the Child is the true key to that. Took me long enough just to be able to contain the other two counterparts."

"You were cocky. You basically assumed that the Heart was the key to the memories." Blut said dryly.

Geist nodded, unaffected by the pointing out of his mistake. "I assumed too much. I have learned from that and I now have the Fighter and the Heart. It won't be much longer." Geist looked to Blut, something coming up within his mind other than the pressing situation of Ken. "Have the others received the orders to return to me?"

Blut nodded. "Yes. Winter and Feuer are already on their way. They will arrive in two days tops."

"And Auge?" Geist asked.

Blut shrugged. "That man is hard to reach. He'll be here, though. He's pretty good about keeping in touch with Winter and Feuer at the very least." Blut leaned forward from his spot on another armchair, looking to his leader with a calm gaze. "Are you going to allow Wut out of his cage?"

Geist offered an empty smile to the man. "You don't seem too affected by your brother being contained within a cage, Blut."

Blut wagged a finger at his leader, a toothy smirk on his face. "My brother brought upon his own insanity. He knew what would happen when he killed and devoured that demon."

"You consider your brother more insane than you?" Geist asked curiously.

Blut smiled, his grin humorless, momentarily lucid from his own insanity. "I'm just crazy insane. My brother is killing insane. There's a big difference."

"How so?"

Blut's smile didn't fade. "I don't usually try to eat my victims. Usually."

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The Child whimpered in fright, having lost his way through the darkness surrounding Ken's mind as the man slept in a seemingly dreamless sleep. He cried softly as he wandered aimless, occasionally calling out for Fighter or Heart.

"Don't leave me alone, don't leave me alone…" Child sobbed, wiping away the tears that stained his cheeks. He wrapped his arms around himself as he continued to walk aimlessly, his tiny shoes shuffling across the endless surface, tugging at his baggy pants and his large shirt that reached his knees.

A loud roar from some nameless force filled the air around the Child. The Child screamed, clapping his small hands over his ears and falling to his knees, shaking from the loud noise. "Mommy! Daddy!" He begged, his cries continuing as the roar finally faded away.

/KITTEN!?/ A voice called to him, a tall familiar form coming into focus in front of him, forming out of the darkness. The Child looked up, surprised at seeing the redhead telepath suddenly appearing within the darkness of Ken's mind.

The Child reached up pleadingly with his arms, the tears still flowing as he reached for the familiar man. "Schu!" He cried as in a childlike voice as the telepath scooped him up, the tall man holding the crying counterpart of Ken's mind.

"Finally found you, kitten. Never thought I'd see you again." Schuldich shushed the small counterpart's tears, finally relieved to have found at least one counterpart of Ken's mind.

"Farfar…" The small Child tried to sound out the long name, having as much difficulty as he had had with Schuldich's own name.

"I'm here, angel." The pale man appeared alongside the telepath, catching the Child as the small child reached out to clasp tiny arms around the demon's neck. Schuldich held the Child's waist so the counterpart wouldn't fall, barely managing to hold onto the squirming figure.

"Now tell me, little angel." Farfarello commanded softly, tilting the tear-stained face to look up at him. "Tell me what has been happening."

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Tiny lesson in German! Thanks to reviewers who correct my mistakes!

Wut: Fury

Feuer: Fire

Winter: Winter (originality! *Sarcasm*)

Auge: Eye

*Hint* These names give you a clue as to these people's powers.

Yohji: *rolls eyes* Really…

Chaosdreamer: Hah! Finally got this done!

Oh, guess what? The review page stinks! I can never seem to read the

newest reviews. So, if you want to review, use the e-mail on my address

page or aubreef@prodigy.net. I want to hear reviews, but I just can't seem

to read them!

I finally figured out who HeatherR is. Took me a frickn' month! I read her

fic on Fanfiction called 'Tell Him It Wasn't Love' (correct, right?) *Sigh*

Love it! Really good Ran/Ken fic. *Bows to HeatherR* You should have

seen me when I figured out who you are! About fell out of my chair!

I have plans for a Nightwalker fanfic and a one-shot Gundam Wing fic!

Just gotta start it up!

Also college is done right now! Now is the time for people to make one-shot requests for Weiss Kreuz! It may take me a while to do them, but I'll try! Look back to whichever chapter I talked about what pairings I would do! It's gotta be Ken and I want Ken to be uke! ^_^ I shamelessly love Kenken!