Zenarith frowned, rubbing his shoulder where Sigma had pushed away from him. He watched the other stumble off into the night, eyebrows furrowed. He'd never seen Sigma so...unbalanced. Granted, he'd not seen much of Sigma moving around anyway, but it still seemed strange. The man had seemed...off. He frowned, shaking his head. Zenarith was pulled from his thoughts as a high-pitched wail came from inside the manor. His eyes widened, and he hurried inside, a dark feeling sweeping over him. He heard the sound of running people, and followed a maid up the stairs.
Byakuya...there wasn't any way something could have happened to him..was there? Zenarith swallowed hard, steadying himself. He moved past a maid into Byakuya's private chambers, and then stopped. His world froze around him.
Crimson hair spilled over the floor, long-fingered delicate hands lay limply on the cool stone, and then the pale, lifeless face, lips parted, no breath escaping them. His world crashed, darkening on itself. A scream tore its way out of his throat, and he pulled Byakuya's limp form to his chest. Tears were streaming from his eyes, crystallizing into sparkling droplets of ice as he sobbed, holding Byakuya's limp form close to him. An inhuman wail escaped him, and with that wail, ice spread from where he knelt, cracking the stone, freezing everything it touched. A maid at the door, gasped as the ice crept up her legs, her eyes wide with terror as she was frozen.
Zenarith stood slowly, his shoulders shaking with the sobs that escaped him. He carried Byakuya's still form to the couch they often shared, laying the other's slender frame down with a gentle touch few ever saw from him.
“My love,” he whispered, his voice shaking. “Please....don't leave me,” he cried, his hands shaking as he touched Byakuya's face. The other was still warm. Tears splashed on Byakuya's pale cheeks, freezing on contact, small snowflakes misting from where the tears made contact. Zenarith let out a choked sob, taking hold of the pendant around Byakuya's neck, an intricately carved stone in the shape of a flame. He held it tightly to his chest, whispering to himself. “I love you...I love you..” He sobbed. He took one step forward, laying the stone on his lover's chest, his hands shaking. He let out a soft, shuddering sigh, watching with eyes devoid of light as ice encapsulated his love, holding Byakuya in its impossibly cold embrace.
It glittered with the moonlight that streamed through the open window. Zenarith shook, squeezing his eyes shut. He touched the cold surface, his hands trembling. “You'll be safe now,” he whispered. He turned, eyes going dark, and cold. Someone killed his love. The one person in the world he'd do anything for, and they were gone now. Someone took Byakuya from him.
Rage boiled up inside him, turning cold as it reached his heart. A growl tore through him, his eyes glowing faint blue. Ice spikes tore through stone and wood, ripping books to shreds. He didn't care any more. Maids and guards alike were impaled, frozen, and torn apart by the ice that tore through the manor. It was as if a monster within him had been released. Everything in his path would be destroyed. He wailed, howled, screamed his fury and despair. The only thing untouched was the large ice crystal that encapsulated his lover.
He dragged his nails along the wall, the tips hardened with ice. They dragged deep gashes in the wall as he stormed down the hall toward the entrance. A maid tried to stop him, and she was frozen in turn. He felt the ice rage within him, burning cold and ruthless within his chest. He stalked out of the building, leaving a path of icy destruction behind him. A woman stood in the gardens, waiting for him. She held up her hands, eyes looking worried. “Zenarith,” she said softly, eyebrows furrowed.
His mind reeled, and his eyes narrowed. The bitch was trying to get inside his mind. He roared, snarling at her, summoning great spikes of ice to surround her. He hissed at her, the ice creeping up on her. She screeched, and he felt her mind dig at his again, attempting to subdue him. He smirked with pleasure as she whimpered from the sustained effort of trying to reach his mind. He sealed off his mind, letting her feel the impenetrable cold of his fury and she screamed, collapsing to the ground. He continued on his way, finding a floater. He would leave the city. The bio-gens were the cause of this. They just had to be smarter than anyone thought. They just had to be investigated....and it was their fault, however inadvertently, that his love was now dead.
The image of Sigma running from the estate crossed his mind. He was likely at fault too, though Zenarith knew he wouldn't be able to find the man. A smirk crossed his lips. Very well then...he'd draw Sigma to him. Kalla. That was the city the man came from. Kalla was where Zenarith would go...to destroy every hint of their existence. They had sent the man who killed his love. He would make them pay.
Zenarith programmed a course into the floater, his face stone like. It took him to the sky port in a matter of minutes. Men tried to stop him, but they were failed. Ice overtook them, shattering them into thousands of shards that littered the ground of the sky port. His eyes burned cold as he boarded an airship, leaving a path of icy death in his wake.
* * * * *
Rinn smiled softly to himself, toying with the sparkly that the nice professor had given him to play with. It was an intricate model of a star system, complete with planets, moons, and asteroids. There was even a little comet that spun around the system. His eyes widened as his mind pulsed. His breath stopped in his chest, his mind getting pulled to the city below.
Ice...there was so much pain...cold. He whimpered, crimson eyes widening. A scream tore through his mind. Pain. His friend was in so much pain. He curled up on himself, shaking, ears flattened to his head. Hands tried to shake him out of his thoughts, but he couldn't pull himself from the image of death in front of him.
He saw blood...so much blood. Tears were streaming down his face. A voice was calling to him. He turned, and yelped as burning eyes, glowing cold with rage bored into his soul. Then pain and white light surrounded him and he was yanked out of the vision.
His heart pounded in his chest, and he shook. Thalia knelt in front of him, Avin next to her. His mind screamed pain at him, and tears poured from his eyes. “B-Byakuya,” he whispered, trembling. “Z-Zenarith...gone m-mad...gone. S-so much pain. H-he's gone,” he whispered. Warmth enveloped him as Avin pulled him into his arms.
The silence was deafening. He trembled, feeling raw and burned. His eyes searched Thalia's as her face went white as a sheet. He frowned, pouting at Avin. He couldn't sense anything with Avin this close to him. She trembled, eyebrows furrowing.
“Sorrell,” she hissed. “Stupid!” She stood, turning to the window, eyes taking on that unfocused thought that meant she was talking to someone. She yelped a moment later, stumbling from the window, holding her head tightly. “He's gone insane,” she whispered to Avin, hands shaking.
Yuki stared at them, eyes wide. “What's going on?” he asked, violet eyes wide. Kiro shook his head, frowning at a computer screen as he typed furiously on the keyboard. He brought up a display, vibrant eyes intense as they flickered over the various codes. He muttered to himself, and then nodded shortly. The display hissed static, and then cleared, bringing up a news report from Naunet Riva.
Rinn's eyes widened, his hands trembling as he watched a wide path of ice explode from Byakuya's estate, and then the ice moved through the city, buildings collapsing under its weight, other buildings bursting as ice consumed them, a path of destruction leading to the sky port. Screams from the crowd, and an airship zoomed from one of the hangars. It sped out towards the waste, two fighter ships following close behind. The camera zoomed in, and ice bloomed from one of the fighters, exploding it into bright fireworks.
A gasp escaped Rinn's lips as the second fighter shot out one of the engines of the airship. It spun out of control, fleeing out into the waste. The fighter followed it. The camera stayed focused on the distant flickers of light in the distance. Rinn held his breath, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. Light blossomed on the horizon, a bright flower in the night. The camera cut at that point, returning to the news anchor.
Yuki sat down heavily, eyes wide. “That couldn't be.....there's no way....but I don't understand...” he whispered.
Tallen watched the news report, eyebrows furrowed. “That ice....the only one capable of such a thing is your friend, isn't it...?”
Rinn glanced up at Avin, eyebrows filling with tears. “Avin...” he whispered. The taller man tightened his hold, looking down at him with a sad little smile. “Must go,” Rinn started to say. He was interrupted by an announcement on the view screen.
He felt his world get crushed again as the announcement that all flights down to the city were now closed. There would be no transport down for twenty-four hours due to the extremity of the apparent attack. Reports rolled along the screen that the stolen airship had crashed in the waste. The death toll was still rising, as bodies were slowly getting identified.
Rinn felt sick. Something had happened to Byakuya. Something bad. Zenarith had lost his mind because of it. Rinn shuddered, ears drooping. He pulled from Avin's hold, feeling a sudden need for air. He trembled. “Air,” he whimpered, clawing at the door as he tried to get it open. Avin pulled him into his arms again, petting his hair. Rinn struggled to pull from the hold, fighting off the panic that was rising in his chest.
Rinn stopped struggling after a minute, his face buried in Avin's chest. This was all wrong...things weren't supposed to be like this. Thalia let out an odd, strangled noise, her face going white as a sheet. “Thalia...?” Yuki whispered from where he stood against the wall.
Rinn turned, hearing a loud thump. Thalia had collapsed onto the floor of the professor's study. Tallen was at her side within a moment, checking her pulse and eye dilation. Yuki watched helplessly, arms wrapped around himself, his face pale. Kiro watched from his seat, seemingly unconcerned, face blank except for the narrowing of his eyes and furrowing of his eyebrows. Nefe chuckled from the corner of the room. “She couldn't take it, eh?” he said maliciously, eyes glittering with pleasure. “Zenarith always was a bit over-dramatic, wasn't he?” The man purred. “Always waving about his holier-than-thou attitude. I thought he was mister big-bad ice-man. What a joke.”
Anger burned in his chest. Rinn was so un-used to feeling such things. His eyes narrowed as he bared his teeth at Nefe. He barely felt himself move as he made his way to the man, his small fist connecting with the man's jaw. “Lost his love,” Rinn said darkly, eyes burning. “Should not speak of things not understood,” He hissed at the man, slightly pointed teeth bared. Nefe stared at him in disbelief, holding his jaw. Avin touched Rinn's shoulder, but Rinn shook him off, kneeling next to Thalia. She had brought him out of his connection with Zenarith's mind. He was grateful to her. He touched her cheek gently, drawing some of her mental pain from her. He grimaced, taking it in, and compacting it. He put it in the dark place at the back of his mind, re-setting his walls there to keep it from hurting him until it could fade.
He took a deep breath, turning to face Avin. “Must go,” he said softly. “Are needed...must find him.”
Avin nodded slowly, standing. “We will.”
Byakuya...there wasn't any way something could have happened to him..was there? Zenarith swallowed hard, steadying himself. He moved past a maid into Byakuya's private chambers, and then stopped. His world froze around him.
Crimson hair spilled over the floor, long-fingered delicate hands lay limply on the cool stone, and then the pale, lifeless face, lips parted, no breath escaping them. His world crashed, darkening on itself. A scream tore its way out of his throat, and he pulled Byakuya's limp form to his chest. Tears were streaming from his eyes, crystallizing into sparkling droplets of ice as he sobbed, holding Byakuya's limp form close to him. An inhuman wail escaped him, and with that wail, ice spread from where he knelt, cracking the stone, freezing everything it touched. A maid at the door, gasped as the ice crept up her legs, her eyes wide with terror as she was frozen.
Zenarith stood slowly, his shoulders shaking with the sobs that escaped him. He carried Byakuya's still form to the couch they often shared, laying the other's slender frame down with a gentle touch few ever saw from him.
“My love,” he whispered, his voice shaking. “Please....don't leave me,” he cried, his hands shaking as he touched Byakuya's face. The other was still warm. Tears splashed on Byakuya's pale cheeks, freezing on contact, small snowflakes misting from where the tears made contact. Zenarith let out a choked sob, taking hold of the pendant around Byakuya's neck, an intricately carved stone in the shape of a flame. He held it tightly to his chest, whispering to himself. “I love you...I love you..” He sobbed. He took one step forward, laying the stone on his lover's chest, his hands shaking. He let out a soft, shuddering sigh, watching with eyes devoid of light as ice encapsulated his love, holding Byakuya in its impossibly cold embrace.
It glittered with the moonlight that streamed through the open window. Zenarith shook, squeezing his eyes shut. He touched the cold surface, his hands trembling. “You'll be safe now,” he whispered. He turned, eyes going dark, and cold. Someone killed his love. The one person in the world he'd do anything for, and they were gone now. Someone took Byakuya from him.
Rage boiled up inside him, turning cold as it reached his heart. A growl tore through him, his eyes glowing faint blue. Ice spikes tore through stone and wood, ripping books to shreds. He didn't care any more. Maids and guards alike were impaled, frozen, and torn apart by the ice that tore through the manor. It was as if a monster within him had been released. Everything in his path would be destroyed. He wailed, howled, screamed his fury and despair. The only thing untouched was the large ice crystal that encapsulated his lover.
He dragged his nails along the wall, the tips hardened with ice. They dragged deep gashes in the wall as he stormed down the hall toward the entrance. A maid tried to stop him, and she was frozen in turn. He felt the ice rage within him, burning cold and ruthless within his chest. He stalked out of the building, leaving a path of icy destruction behind him. A woman stood in the gardens, waiting for him. She held up her hands, eyes looking worried. “Zenarith,” she said softly, eyebrows furrowed.
His mind reeled, and his eyes narrowed. The bitch was trying to get inside his mind. He roared, snarling at her, summoning great spikes of ice to surround her. He hissed at her, the ice creeping up on her. She screeched, and he felt her mind dig at his again, attempting to subdue him. He smirked with pleasure as she whimpered from the sustained effort of trying to reach his mind. He sealed off his mind, letting her feel the impenetrable cold of his fury and she screamed, collapsing to the ground. He continued on his way, finding a floater. He would leave the city. The bio-gens were the cause of this. They just had to be smarter than anyone thought. They just had to be investigated....and it was their fault, however inadvertently, that his love was now dead.
The image of Sigma running from the estate crossed his mind. He was likely at fault too, though Zenarith knew he wouldn't be able to find the man. A smirk crossed his lips. Very well then...he'd draw Sigma to him. Kalla. That was the city the man came from. Kalla was where Zenarith would go...to destroy every hint of their existence. They had sent the man who killed his love. He would make them pay.
Zenarith programmed a course into the floater, his face stone like. It took him to the sky port in a matter of minutes. Men tried to stop him, but they were failed. Ice overtook them, shattering them into thousands of shards that littered the ground of the sky port. His eyes burned cold as he boarded an airship, leaving a path of icy death in his wake.
* * * * *
Rinn smiled softly to himself, toying with the sparkly that the nice professor had given him to play with. It was an intricate model of a star system, complete with planets, moons, and asteroids. There was even a little comet that spun around the system. His eyes widened as his mind pulsed. His breath stopped in his chest, his mind getting pulled to the city below.
Ice...there was so much pain...cold. He whimpered, crimson eyes widening. A scream tore through his mind. Pain. His friend was in so much pain. He curled up on himself, shaking, ears flattened to his head. Hands tried to shake him out of his thoughts, but he couldn't pull himself from the image of death in front of him.
He saw blood...so much blood. Tears were streaming down his face. A voice was calling to him. He turned, and yelped as burning eyes, glowing cold with rage bored into his soul. Then pain and white light surrounded him and he was yanked out of the vision.
His heart pounded in his chest, and he shook. Thalia knelt in front of him, Avin next to her. His mind screamed pain at him, and tears poured from his eyes. “B-Byakuya,” he whispered, trembling. “Z-Zenarith...gone m-mad...gone. S-so much pain. H-he's gone,” he whispered. Warmth enveloped him as Avin pulled him into his arms.
The silence was deafening. He trembled, feeling raw and burned. His eyes searched Thalia's as her face went white as a sheet. He frowned, pouting at Avin. He couldn't sense anything with Avin this close to him. She trembled, eyebrows furrowing.
“Sorrell,” she hissed. “Stupid!” She stood, turning to the window, eyes taking on that unfocused thought that meant she was talking to someone. She yelped a moment later, stumbling from the window, holding her head tightly. “He's gone insane,” she whispered to Avin, hands shaking.
Yuki stared at them, eyes wide. “What's going on?” he asked, violet eyes wide. Kiro shook his head, frowning at a computer screen as he typed furiously on the keyboard. He brought up a display, vibrant eyes intense as they flickered over the various codes. He muttered to himself, and then nodded shortly. The display hissed static, and then cleared, bringing up a news report from Naunet Riva.
Rinn's eyes widened, his hands trembling as he watched a wide path of ice explode from Byakuya's estate, and then the ice moved through the city, buildings collapsing under its weight, other buildings bursting as ice consumed them, a path of destruction leading to the sky port. Screams from the crowd, and an airship zoomed from one of the hangars. It sped out towards the waste, two fighter ships following close behind. The camera zoomed in, and ice bloomed from one of the fighters, exploding it into bright fireworks.
A gasp escaped Rinn's lips as the second fighter shot out one of the engines of the airship. It spun out of control, fleeing out into the waste. The fighter followed it. The camera stayed focused on the distant flickers of light in the distance. Rinn held his breath, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. Light blossomed on the horizon, a bright flower in the night. The camera cut at that point, returning to the news anchor.
Yuki sat down heavily, eyes wide. “That couldn't be.....there's no way....but I don't understand...” he whispered.
Tallen watched the news report, eyebrows furrowed. “That ice....the only one capable of such a thing is your friend, isn't it...?”
Rinn glanced up at Avin, eyebrows filling with tears. “Avin...” he whispered. The taller man tightened his hold, looking down at him with a sad little smile. “Must go,” Rinn started to say. He was interrupted by an announcement on the view screen.
He felt his world get crushed again as the announcement that all flights down to the city were now closed. There would be no transport down for twenty-four hours due to the extremity of the apparent attack. Reports rolled along the screen that the stolen airship had crashed in the waste. The death toll was still rising, as bodies were slowly getting identified.
Rinn felt sick. Something had happened to Byakuya. Something bad. Zenarith had lost his mind because of it. Rinn shuddered, ears drooping. He pulled from Avin's hold, feeling a sudden need for air. He trembled. “Air,” he whimpered, clawing at the door as he tried to get it open. Avin pulled him into his arms again, petting his hair. Rinn struggled to pull from the hold, fighting off the panic that was rising in his chest.
Rinn stopped struggling after a minute, his face buried in Avin's chest. This was all wrong...things weren't supposed to be like this. Thalia let out an odd, strangled noise, her face going white as a sheet. “Thalia...?” Yuki whispered from where he stood against the wall.
Rinn turned, hearing a loud thump. Thalia had collapsed onto the floor of the professor's study. Tallen was at her side within a moment, checking her pulse and eye dilation. Yuki watched helplessly, arms wrapped around himself, his face pale. Kiro watched from his seat, seemingly unconcerned, face blank except for the narrowing of his eyes and furrowing of his eyebrows. Nefe chuckled from the corner of the room. “She couldn't take it, eh?” he said maliciously, eyes glittering with pleasure. “Zenarith always was a bit over-dramatic, wasn't he?” The man purred. “Always waving about his holier-than-thou attitude. I thought he was mister big-bad ice-man. What a joke.”
Anger burned in his chest. Rinn was so un-used to feeling such things. His eyes narrowed as he bared his teeth at Nefe. He barely felt himself move as he made his way to the man, his small fist connecting with the man's jaw. “Lost his love,” Rinn said darkly, eyes burning. “Should not speak of things not understood,” He hissed at the man, slightly pointed teeth bared. Nefe stared at him in disbelief, holding his jaw. Avin touched Rinn's shoulder, but Rinn shook him off, kneeling next to Thalia. She had brought him out of his connection with Zenarith's mind. He was grateful to her. He touched her cheek gently, drawing some of her mental pain from her. He grimaced, taking it in, and compacting it. He put it in the dark place at the back of his mind, re-setting his walls there to keep it from hurting him until it could fade.
He took a deep breath, turning to face Avin. “Must go,” he said softly. “Are needed...must find him.”
Avin nodded slowly, standing. “We will.”
No comments:
Post a Comment