Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Life Through a Dragon's Eyes ❯ Chapter Nine: Till Death Do Us Part, My Friend ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine: Till Death Do Us Part, My Friend

 

 

So cold…I can't breathe, almost like I'm drowning in ice water. I can just barely hear someone. This voice…who is it? What's he saying to me?

 

“Armatage!” I hear a voice scream…a boy's voice…why is it so comforting to me?

 

I hear his voice, is it…Sasuke's? So familiar…but it can't be real. Sasuke's dead…and it's all my fault.

 

I see him…but is it truly real? He screams my name over and over again. I see him trying to grab me, trying to shake me awake as if he thinks I'm sleeping. But his hands only pass through me. My body's so cold…so numb…I don't even feel it.

 

“Sasuke...” the name passes over my lips unconsciously, without thinking at all.

 

“Yes, it's me. I'm here for you Tage. You're going to be alright,” he whispers to me, a reassuring smile on his face that I would normally believe if I didn't already know that he's mistaken.

 

I shake my head, smiling up at him weakly. The expression is almost foreign to me after not smiling without a hint or sarcasm for three years straight.

 

“No...I'm dying…won't last…much longer,” I murmur softly.

 

Sasuke immediately begins to tell me that I'm wrong, that I shouldn't be so pessimistic. But I hold up a hand weakly before letting it drop to the hard stone floor.

 

“I missed you…so much. I'm really g-glad…I got to see you….one m-more time…before I…”

 

::Sasuke's POV::

 

“Armatage! Wake up! You can't do this! Tage!” I scream over and over again as I try to shake her like any normal person would. But I'm not normal. Heck, I'm not even alive.

 

My hands pass right through her cold body. She can't be dead. This isn't real. Tage is too strong for that.

 

“You can't die!” I yell at the top of my lungs, wishing simple words could bring the dead back to life, but if they could, I wouldn't be dead myself, would I?

 

::FLASHBACK::

 

(Okay, I know the first flashback I said they'd all be by Armatage. But…I didn't foresee this back then. So…oh well…)

 

I remember, a long time ago, Tage explained to me exactly why her fire was so important. Back then, I couldn't understand the fear she must've felt at the thought of ever losing such a precious thing. I guess…now I do.

 

We were…eight still, maybe nine. Tage had been living with us for less than a year, and yet everyone already thought of her as part of our family. We were happy together. I can't remember a better time to be alive.

 

We were in her room. I had been teaching her to read human languages, and in return she'd teach me how to read, write, and speak in her own language.

 

“The…girl…p…pla…what's this word again?” she had asked me.

 

“Played, now the rest of the sentence. You can read that huh?” I reply, smiling at how much she'd improved over the last few months.

 

I knew it had to be hard on her, to be living in a completely different society, among a totally different species too. It wasn't that she was stupid or anything, and I knew that. Tage was just adjusting to everyone around her, including the way to read and write. She always had a gift for speaking though, and could speak a language fairly well after only hearing a few words of it.

 

“The girl played…in the park...with her…f…fri… Oh, I know what it means but I can't remember how to say it!” she mumbled, frustrated.

 

I smiled and rolled my eyes quietly. Tage had told me that once she learned how to read a word in a human language, her mind almost immediately converted it into the word that meant the same thing in her own language. She thought that was what interfered with her remembering the human pronunciation.

 

“Friends, Tage. Don't get angry about it. You're still learning. It's only been a few months after all,” I said, trying to cheer her up a bit.

 

“Reading time is over. Something more fun is now,” she said with a laugh as she threw the book over the side of her bed and fell on her back, sighing softly.

 

“Tell me more about dragons. It would be so cool to be able to fly like you can,” I had asked curiously.

 

“What was the last thing I told you about?” she'd asked, stifling a small yawn.

 

“That festival that you had every year,” I answered.

 

“Oh right, right. The Festival of Flame. See, it revolves around this myth about how the first dragons were created.”

 

“What's the myth?” I had asked eagerly.

 

“Let me think…I can't remember it exactly. I went something like this: Long ago, when the earth dwellers still ruled the land, the world was very wicked. It was filled with evil men with greedy hearts. The gods saw that there was nothing to temper the evil, and feared that it would soon consume the hearts of all creatures. And so, Doragon, (Japanese for dragon. I found the translator on the internet again. I'm so bad with making up names. ^^') the god of fire, sought to make a new kind of creature, one that's very life depended on the pure, good fire within its heart.”

 

“And those creatures were the dragons, right?” I asked quietly.

 

“Let me finish,” she replied, rolling her eyes at my impatience. “Anyway, Doragon took the two most pure elemental substances he knew of to make this new creature. Fire for its heart, spirit, and mind. And the air from the highest reaches of the sky for its wings, so that it could watch over the earth dwellers and bring justice to the land.”

 

“What happens if a dragon loses his or her fire Tage?” I had asked curiously, not thinking much of the question really.

 

Armatage paused for a moment. She had turned away from me, sighing softly before speaking.

 

“He or she must willingly give up their fire, or not at all, because if they do, they die automatically. A dragon's fire cannot be extracted once they are dead either.”

 

“Why would a dragon give up their fire then?” I had asked, not understanding why a dragon would do such a thing if they knew they would die right after because of it.

 

“To protect someone very special to them; for instance, a mother trying to protect her children from a demon stronger than her might give up her fire in a desperate attempt to give her children a chance to escape and be saved. Giving up one's fire is always a selfless act when done, to save or help someone dear to a dragon is of the utmost importance to us. We believe that if you turn your back on one of your friends, then you deserve to have your wings ripped out and pushed off a cliff. That's how serious it is to abandon one of your own kind to us,” she had said, her voice grave and serious.

 

I had only stared at her in disbelief. Later she'd explained that she had only meant that to completely abandon a friend was what she had been talking about, not simply quarrelling with a friend, and then not speaking to him or her for a few days. I think she was afraid that I'd misunderstood or something. But I hadn't.

 

Hearing her say that had made me realize how important our friendship must have been to her. When she came to Human World, there was no one to help her but me. It made me wonder about what she would do if something happened to me. I got my answer five years later as you already know.

 

::END FLASHBACK::

 

Her body is as cold as ice, though I can't truly feel it, I know. Armatage's eyes are still open, though the brilliant light that had come from her fire had vanished from them. I cry, mumbling words of rage and sadness as I stare at my best friend's cold, lifeless body.

 

“I did her a mercy boy. She would've died in a few days anyway from the sickness of her people. You may console yourself with the fact that this was much more painless than that would've been,” I hear Kushin say, sneering at the fuss I'm making over her death.

 

I see a hand put over her face and look up, seeing that it belongs to Hiei, the other clutching a wound over his stomach. He takes his hand away, and I now see Armatage's eyes closed. It almost looks as if she's sleeping, but I know the truth.

 

A rage I've never felt before begins to boil inside me; hatred so strong I fear it may consume me as I stare up at Kushin. He's moved, standing right over us just so he can laugh at my pain…and hers.

 

“You bastard! I'll kill you!” I yell in pure anger as I stand and punch him right in the face. He only laughs as my fist goes right through, making no true contact whatsoever.

 

“That isn't possible any longer thanks to your little girlfriend, boy. I am now completely immortal! Nothing can kill me! And with this new power, I will reign supreme over both Human and Demon World. And soon after, even those in Spirit World will tremble at my awesome might!” he boasts, laughing maniacally.

 

“That isn't ever going to happen you crazy idiot!” I hear someone yell. I turn, seeing that it's Yusuke.

 

“Look, I didn't know Armatage that well, and frankly, I never wanted to know her at all for all the trouble she caused. But as much of a pain in the ass she was to us, you're worse than that! So, now you're going to have to die. And maybe, just maybe, if you beg, I'll consider sparing your life,” he threatens, cracking his knuckles exaggeratedly.

 

For some strange reason, I smile at his words. That sounds like something Tage might've said about someone else. She'd never just forget about a friend's death and never try to avenge them.

 

“I'm sorry Tage…for all that's happened. But at the very least…we'll kill Kushin for you. We'll avenge the death of your people…and yours,” I whisper softly as I stare at her, speaking as if she can actually hear me.