Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Phoenix	By : Macx Category: Descendents of Darkness/Yami No Matsuei > General Views: 2194 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Descendants of Darkness (Yami no Matsuei), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Phoenix
- 2-part 2
- 3-part 3
- 4-part 4
- 5-part 5
- 6-part 6
- 7-part 7
- 8-part 8
- 9-part 9
- 10-part 10
- 11-part 11
- 12-part 12
- 13-part 13
- 14-part 14
- 15-part 15
- 16-part 16
- 3
- 4
- 5
The tour couldn't be completed in a day.
So Rikugo came back the second day, seeing the smile on the young features,
saw the eagerness for company, and he followed his host again, for his
second tour, for tea and something to eat, for a drink and conversation.
It was on the third day as they were out in the gardens, the perfectly
groomed, wide expanse of green grass, trees, shrubs, a huge maze with a
sun dial in its center, with the many fountains, stone benches, and the
groves that were chambers of greenery nestling in the small woods separating
the pathways that Rikugo finally asked what he had been trying to answer
for himself ever since the first day, ever since feeling that unusual aura.
"Why is a demon serving Enma-Daiou?" Rikugo asked calmly.
Those strangely blood-red eyes widened, the man behind the mask still
not aware that he was quite visible to the astrologer.
They were standing next to a fountain, a large pool of shimmering water
with a single spout in the middle, surrounded by water sprites of bronze
or stone. It was a playful expression of life.
"Come again?"
"You're not human, nor are you a shinigami. Your aura speaks of demonic
influence. Unlike Tsuzuki though. You are a pure blood."
The Count froze, paling. "You must be mistaken..."
"I'm not. It's also in your eyes. The mask hides it, but your eyes aren't
human either."
"You... can see me?" the other man breathed, eyes impossibly wide, looking
almost comically shocked, but Rikugo didn't laugh.
The horror was real that this man felt. The fear and panic and everything
radiating off him were true.
But why?
"Yes, I can," he confirmed.
The Count blanched more, stepping away from the taller shikigami as
if he was afraid of him all of a sudden. Gravel crunched underneath his
booted feet and except for the gushing water there was no sound.
"It's my ability," the astrologer added softly. "I could see you the
moment we met." He was hesitant for a moment, then added the question that
had been burning on his mind for too long. "Why do you wear the mask?"
Trembling fingers caressed over the object in question. "I... It was
part of the punishment."
Rikugo was taken aback. "Punishment?"
The Count moved back two more steps, looking close to running. "I apologize
for deceiving you, Rikugo." He dropped his gaze briefly, like bowing without
physically moving a muscle. "I'm a prisoner of this place. I cannot leave
the Palace grounds. This," he gestured at the garden, "is as far as I can
walk."
"Why?!" Rikugo had never heard of such a punishment, though it seemed
less cruel than what had been done to Touda for instance.
"It was the better of two evils."
"And you serve Meifu?"
Another tremor. "Yes. I'm not a demon, nor a devil. I'm human," he whispered.
"I was born a human being. This here... it's my eternal curse."
"Why? What did you do?"
For a long moment there was no answer. The Count was silent, staring
ahead, lost in a world Rikugo couldn't fathom.
"I didn't kill anybody, if that's what you think," the Count said softly,
breaking the silence in the end. "At least not by my own hands. I'm not
some kind of crazed murderer. Never was, never had the intention to harm
anyone. I just made mistakes. I... wanted immortality, eternal beauty...
to live forever and be untouched by sickness, poverty and famine."
He laughed darkly, those strange eyes briefly glancing at the listening
shikigami.
"I got all I wanted and more. I got eternity. I have my looks. I can
never die, but this isn't what I would call life!"
"What happened?" Rikugo asked softly.
"I made a deal with a devil. I offered him what he wished for immortality
in return. I was naïve when I summoned him. I was naïve enough
to believe that I could control him, that all the tales of before about
evil demons was just make-believe, that he would be my servant."
Trembling fingers ran through the black hair, then touched the half
mask. He finally removed it, making himself completely visible to his only
guest. The eyes took on their true color, blood red with a black pupil,
a fiery shimmer in their depths. They were a sure sign of his demonic heritage
and the Count didn't meet Rikugo's gaze. He played with the mask, fingers
still trembling.
"It was all true. That thing used me, my desires, my wishes, my dreams.
It made me immortal, but not in any way I wanted. I began to live off the
life time of others, needed human life like a vampire. People aged around
me, grew sick and old and finally died. I didn't know that. When I finally
realized what was happening, it was too late. I harbored so much energy,
it suffused my body, it changed me in turn." He drew a shaky breath. "I
was handsome, I was desirable, but none of my companions survived the night.
Each climax leeched their energy into mine. It was when I ran. I tried
to hide, but that thing came after me... and staying away from human life
hurt me."
Rikugo was aghast. He knew that devils made all kinds of deals, but
this was worse than stealing a single soul. The Count still didn't meet
his eyes, staring at the mask, face pale and drawn.
"I didn't know that all those souls whose lives I took were condemned
to go to Hell. I didn't know..." The voice trembled more. "When I fought
the pact, I made my last mistake. I fought fire with fire and was burned.
I used magic to kill the creature, but in the end all I did was fuse his
power with mine. I became what he was..."
"You're a half demon then?" Rikugo asked softly.
A wry laugh. "Yes and no. I merged with one, molecule by molecule. I
became one. My whole body changed; everything about me changed. You can't
tell me apart from any of the others because when Enma-Daiou brought me
here he locked that part away." The Count stared at the floor. "He gave
me my last chance. I was supposed to serve Hell, become one of those minions,
lose my soul to that creature that I had become, but I ended up here. Alone."
He smiled darkly. "I think it was the lesser evil. Hiding behind the mask,
behind invisibility is a small price to pay. It could be a lot worse."
"What's your name?"
A sad smile. "No one's asked me that in a long time. I've been the Count
for all my existence here."
"Who were you before?"
Finally those demonic eyes met Rikugo's and the shikigami held them
with a steady expression. He was neither frightened nor shocked by them.
Shikigami had all kinds of eyes and only humans turned away in fright from
what they didn't know. Rikugo himself looked different and his second set
of eyes was red and reptilian; dragon eyes.
"My people had a name for me. You could translate it as Demon Spawn."
Rikugo looked into those pained eyes, saw the truth of the emotions
behind the name. "What did your parents call you?" he asked quietly.
A sigh he evaded his gaze. Rikugo waited, waited for the emotions to
settle, for the other man to make up his mind.
"Ryu," the Count finally said. "My mother called me Ryu. It's an abbreviated
version of my full name and title."
The astrologer smiled. "May I call you Ryu?"
The Count looked at him, sadness in his eyes, his whole demeanor, but
there was also a spark of hope. "I'd like you to."
° ° °
He sat in the darkened room, a glass of sherry in one hand, eyes gazing
out over the garden at night. There were a few lights on, illuminating
the fountain for no one else but him and Watson. It was a spectacle to
amuse himself, to take his mind off darker thoughts, and right now Ryu
felt it soothing him. The lights were wonderful in the night, little sparkles,
beacons, life. Cold and artificial, but still life.
Why had he told Rikugo his name?
Why had he revealed his past?
Because he had been desperate for someone to know, he answered his own
question. He had needed someone other than Watson to talk to him, and he
didn't want to keep secrets from this wonderful man.
Rikugo was like a life line. He had come back, he had continued their
conversation, he had been truly interested. And there hadn't been a perverted
thought on the Count's mind.
I'm so hungry for it, I'm a fool, he thought desperately.
This was momentary. Just another visitor in the millennia of imprisonment.
No one to stay. Not company in the real sense of the word.
Rikugo was a hope that would soon shrivel up and die again.
Enjoy it while you can. Here today, gone tomorrow.
Whatever held the shikigami in this realm, whatever his troubles were
� and the Count wasn't stupid; Rikugo was one troubled shikigami � soon
he would solve that problem and leave for his own realm.
"Let's make the best of it," Ryu murmured, emptying the sherry.
° ° °
The days blurred, one into the other, and Rikugo found himself relaxing
more and more. He spent little time with Tsuzuki, sometimes just coming
by to say hello, then he was off again to the Palace. Ryu was a very entertaining
host. They talked a lot. A whole lot. Not just about little things, they
also discussed a few more fundamental things, and while the master of the
Palace of Candles knew all about shikigami and GensouKai, he had never
had more information than was in his books. Rikugo was his chance to learn
more and he asked whatever came to mind.
The astrologer had no trouble answering those questions. He was very
willing to do so, too. He had no idea why he was so absolutely relaxed
in a demonic presence. True, Ryu wasn't registering as a pure-blood on
his senses, more like Tsuzuki did when he let his powers flare, but he
was a true demon and there was no denying it. Nevertheless, in all his
time here, Rikugo had never felt unwell.
That this demon also had an effect on him was something else. It was
something worrisome, but also very, very nice. Worrisome because Rikugo
hadn't felt like it in ages, and nice because... because it was nice. He
liked to feel this sizzle, this little prickle of attraction, and from
the way Ryu sometimes looked at him, it wasn't one-sided.
Rikugo had to smile to himself when he remembered how Ryu had watched
him, open lust in his eyes, and then blushed for a moment when he had registered
that the shikigami could see him. For everyone else he had been invisible
all his life; for Rikugo, he was always visible, whether he wore the mask
or not.
He enjoyed it all.
Every single minute.
And with every minute, the prickles grew stronger, the attraction grew,
and his starved body reacted in a way he could no longer suppress.

Rikugo smiled when he heard the Count laugh wholeheartedly. It was a
sound he hadn't really heard from him before, and he had to admit he liked
it. A lot.

When he looked up he met a pair of smoldering red eyes, holding a fire
within them that was more than just the demonic heritage. There was something
like � longing, and yet... Rikugo had to swallow the lump that had
appeared in his throat all of a sudden.
Time seemed to freeze, the air between them crackling with a life on
its own when he minutely bent over to the man at his side, cupping his
face with a hand. Leaning in a little more he was met halfway, lips brushing
over his. Rikugo pulled back when he felt his lips tingle where they had
touched the other man's, and he looked at the Count, a question in his
eyes.
Ryu's face held an unreadable expression, and there was a sadness in
his eyes, deeply engraved by two millennia of loneliness, it almost broke
the astrologer's heart. But there was more, an answer to the question Rikugo
hadn't even voiced, and when their lips met again it was with more fervor,
igniting a fire within him that Rikugo had believed extinguished a long
time ago. Yet, here it was, starting to burn through his veins and glowing
inside him, making him gasp into the kiss. The other man broke the kiss
immediately, but Rikugo didn't want him to pull back entirely, holding
him but still giving him enough room should he want to escape. Instead
he felt the hesitant weight of a hand resting on his hip, and Rikugo caressed
the jaw line reassuringly.
"Rikugo?" the Count whispered, red eyes wide, and he bent down again,
pulling the other man against his body.
There was no resistance, his lips met eagerly, and the arm wrapping
itself around his waist brought their bodies even closer together. Rikugo
sighed when he felt the fire being stoked inside him, the hardness brushing
against his own a dead giveaway of the other man's state.
"Ryu?" he murmured into a slightly pointed ear, feeling the body in
his arms shiver and he breathed over the tip again deliberately.
Dark red eyes searched for him, and the Count nodded before he pulled
out of his embrace, taking his hand.
"Upstairs," he said, voice hoarse.
And Rikugo followed.

The bedroom was � huge. There were big soft carpets on the stone
floor, as thick as they came, and Rikugo had no doubt that he would sink
into them ankle-deep and be able to walk soundlessly. Ancient looking tapestries
on the walls, antique looking Chinese war scenes painted on silk, large
dark oak furniture that looked massive and heavy, a fire was crackling
in a wonderfully shaped fire place, somehow giving the massive room
a homey and comfortable atmosphere. The center of it all was a large four
poster bed, big enough for four people his size, Rikugo mused. Silken sheets
seemed to invite him in, and � Rikugo chuckled inwardly with amusement
� there was even the large soft coat of a bear on the floor in front
of the fireplace.
"So this is your place, hm?" Rikugo said, smirking.
He didn't really know what he had expected, but really not something
like this.
"Like it?" Ryu teased, pulling him close, nipping at his jaw in a playful
manner.
"Fitting," Rikugo answered, capturing the teasing mouth with a kiss.
"Fitting for you."
Ryu's eyes sparkled and his face was alight with emotions that Rikugo
had never seen with such intensity. He stopped thinking about the meaning
of what he saw when nimble fingers slid under his clothes, caressed warm
skin, and he was maneuvered toward the huge bed.
Clothes were shed as the two men followed an ancient need, and skin
met skin, two pairs of eyes roaming appreciatively over the other's body.
Rikugo's gaze found only flawless skin, a perfect body, long-limbed, lithe,
powerful in a seductively secret way. Muscles stretched underneath smooth
skin and there was so much Rikugo wanted to touch.
His hands wandered over that smooth skin of the other man's abdomen,
noticing every hitch in breathing, every shiver or tremble as he caressed
Ryu's flanks, trailing soft kisses on his neck and collarbone. Deprived
of human touch for about two thousand years there were contradicting emotions
running over Ryu's face, tugging at Rikugo's heart, but finally red eyes
closed in ecstasy when the body came up to meet his every touch, lean into
every caress like a huge cat would.
Hesitant fingers brushed over his own skin, leaving fiery trails behind
and making him shiver as well. Rikugo searched for his lover's lips again,
while his fingers ghosted over the stomach and deeper. He was rewarded
with a long breathy moan when he found what he had been looking for, curling
his fingers around the neglected hardness. Parting his lover's thighs farther
he rested between them, so he could take care of both of their needs, understanding
that Ryu, though quite willing, most certainly wouldn't be able to. The
long legs parted, inviting him in, and Ryu's hips started to jerk with
every stroke of his hand, fingers burying in his hair, as Ryu gave himself
over to the pleasure.
Both men didn't last long.
°
Rikugo looked at the man in his arms, studying the relaxed features,
the closed eyes that normally showed such an intense, blood red color with
intricate fiery trails in their depths. He had seen these eyes laugh and
light up with mischief in his company. He had seen them darken with memories,
with pain that was yet to be shared, and he had seen them filled with passion.
Passion.
Like they had just shared.
Ryu had cried his name, had spent himself emotionally as well as physically,
and he had fallen asleep in his new lover's arms.
So trusting...
Rikugo stroked over the pitch black hair, such a contrast to the pale
skin that had never tanned. He followed the line of the cheeks, the jaw,
and he caressed the slightly pointed ears.
So very trusting.
He hadn't known the man for more than a few days, just over a week,
and he had slept with him.
Rikugo sat up, careful not wake the sleeping Count.
What have I done? he thought, shocked. He had come to this place to
forget, to clear his head... not to sleep with the first man that attracted
him!
Raking a hand through his now so short hair, he shook his head.
You stupid moron!
The shikigami slipped out of the bed, silent as a cat, and collected
his clothes. Looking back at the single figure in the so very large bed,
yearning rose. So innocent, so handsome... so desirable... Rikugo wanted
nothing more than to crawl back under the covers, feel the warm, living
body next to him, hear each breath, listening to him sleeping. And he wanted
to look into those eyes when they opened...
The astrologer shook himself.
No. Stop it before you make another mistake, Rikugo. You made one once
before.
And he left.
Quietly, without a word, he left the palace.
° ° °
He woke to an empty bed. Cold sheets, the only warmth from his own body,
and the light of a new morning coming through the half closed blinds. Red
eyes gazed at the place where his lover had been when he had slipped off
into sleep, where blond hair had fanned out over the pillows.
Ryu sat up, eyes still fixed to that spot, and he felt a weight settle
on his fragmented soul that was heavier than he had ever expected it to
be.
Rikugo was gone.
He had left.
He briefly closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
It had been the shikigami's right. There had been no expectations, no
promises. Just a good time. A slow, sardonic smile distorted his features.
Yes, no promises.
I slept with a shikigami, one of the Divine Commanders, he thought
with a sigh. What did I expect anyway? Flowers? Breakfast in bed? For crying
out loud, he is one of the twelve most powerful shikigami!
The thought alone that he would ever get to touch this man more intimately,
kiss him, sleep with him, was farfetched. But it had happened, and the
time had been good. He hadn't felt like this in centuries. He hadn't even
thought he was still able to feel like this at all. There were still emotions;
and there was still the ability to hurt.
Pushing back the covers, Ryu rose from the bed and padded over to the
window. He opened the blinds and looked at the approaching dawn. Well,
the memories would keep him happy for a few nights, but he knew the realization
that this had been just an interlude would come back with a vengeance.
But he had lived this life so far, had overcome so much pain and soul-breaking
emotions; he would survive this, too, somehow.

tbc...
- 3
- 4
- 5
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Phoenix