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Bete Noir	By : Macx Category: Descendents of Darkness/Yami No Matsuei > General Views: 1912 -:- 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-Bete Noir
- 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
- 4
- 5
- 6
Tsuzuki had little information on what had happened in the last few
days. He had been witness to Touda's injuries, but the black shikigami
bonded to him had cut him off afterwards, raising shields that Tsuzuki
had had to tolerate. He would have gone into GensouKai if there hadn't
been a case that needed all his attention, and while he was worried, he
had suppressed his instinctive need to be with his friends until he and
Hisoka had completed their assignment.
It was around the end of that case when the walls suddenly collapsed
and he was almost flooded with the presence of the hell serpent. Part of
him registered Hisoka's soft gasp as Touda's mind slipped so violent into
the one of his master. Violent for the empath because he felt it so acutely.
Tsuzuki didn't have a lot of trouble handling it.
::Touda?::
Tsuzuki hugged the black serpent tightly, immediately checking on his
condition. What he saw made him frown. Touda appeared injured, though the
wounds were healing, and he was exhausted.
::We need you!::
Tsuzuki rocked back under the information that accompanied the cry,
shocked by what had happened to Byakko, and only Touda's harsh �Tsuzuki,
stop!' kept him from immediately going into GensouKai.
::Listen to me first:: Touda growled. ::We do need you here, but before
you come storming in, understand what happened. First of all, none of this
is your fault. The devil possessed the shikigami you called. It could have
been anyone. Second, you couldn't have prevented it::
Tsuzuki sighed. He knew he was prone to guilt trips, but even he understood
that this was something beyond his control. No one could have known, and
even a shikigami like Touda could have become a victim.
::Rikugo needs you for some reason or other. I suspect it's because
of what he Saw::
::I'm coming:: he whispered again, even his mind voice a little shaky.
He kept the connection to his shikigami open, still keeping an eye on
Touda, who didn't come across as strong as usual. No surprise there. Byakko
was his lover and whatever it was that had hurt the tiger, it was also
hurting Touda.
"Tsuzuki?" Hisoka's calm voice drew him out of his thoughts and he found
his partner leaning against the wall of the corridor, arms crossed, a slight
scowl on his features.
There were no signs of the earlier discomfort when he had had to endure
Touda's violent invasion of his lover's mind. Tsuzuki wanted to over to
him, hug him, apologize, but the urgency still radiating from Touda was
overpowering.
"I need to leave," he only said.
"What happened?"
"A devil entered GensouKai. He possessed Byakko in our last fight and
slipped in. He hurt Byakko..."
Hisoka's features showed surprise. "He was possessed? But shikigami
can't be possessed by devils..."
"I know, Hisoka, I know." Tsuzuki worried his lower lip, glancing toward
Tatsumi's office. He needed to tell him that he had to go. Tatsumi would
understand, but he probably wouldn't like it.
"I'll tell him," Hisoka offered.
The older shinigami beamed at him. "Thank you!"
"You owe me lunch," Hisoka added without moving a muscle.
Tsuzuki gave him another bright smile, agreeing readily, then briefly
leaned down and kissed his lover. "Thanks."
Hisoka pushed him away, though not unkindly, a small twinkle in his
eyes. "Go. See to your shikigami."
Tsuzuki nodded and hurried off.
° ° °
He was expected by Touda and Tsuzuki winced when he took in the battered
and bruised serpent. Touda looked like he had gone a round or two with
something very, very angry.
"Touda..." he murmured and rested a careful palm against the black-clad
chest.
The shikigami gave him a brief, tired smile. "It looks worse than it
is, Tsuzuki."
And it was Byakko's work. Tsuzuki stroked over the firm chest, needing
to reassure himself that his friend was fine, and Touda drew him into a
hug. He felt the warmth of his shikigami, the life pulsing under the skin,
and he knew Touda was okay, despite his looks. Still, it hurt to see him
like this.
::I'm fine, Asato. Don't worry::
::I always do::
Touda smiled slightly. It was barely even visible. "Rikugo is waiting,"
he murmured.
And they went. Tsuzuki gazed at the pale-faced servants, listened to
their whispers, their voices muted and full of horror. He understood their
emotions because he felt the same.
How could this have happened?
GensouKai was supposed to be protected from a devil invasion. Why hadn't
the Emperor been alerted? He should have detected the devil right away.
He should have alerted Sohryu. Sohryu himself should have been able to
sense the invader.
Tsuzuki hoped he would get answers to those questions.
Touda led him into Sohryu's massive palace and the dragon immediately
approached his master. The narrow face looked worn, there was a disheveled
aura around the blue dragon, and he appeared rather undone. Tsuzuki gazed
at him, eyes filled with worry, and Sohryu smiled a little. His hand cupped
his shinigami master's face.
"I wish you had a happier reason to come visit us," he greeted him.
"Me, too, Sohryu."
"Byakko is in one of the private chambers. I suppose Touda already told
you what happened?"
Tsuzuki nodded. "Yes," he answered softly.
"Rikugo needs your help to get to Byakko. He believes you can reach
him better than any one of us. He is your first shikigami and you share
a strong bond of trust and friendship."
But don't you share the same? Tsuzuki asked silently, not voicing it.
From the fine lines in everyone's face, that was not an option. And
the moment he saw Rikugo, he knew it was really bad. The astrologer looked
almost as horrible as back when Touda had nearly died, and that had only
been a few weeks ago. Rikugo had just about recovered and again he had
been asked to heal, to go deep, to use his powers. Tsuzuki's heart went
out to the powerful dragon.
"Oh, Rikugo," he whispered.
Blond hair had escaped the long, braided tail, and hung into his face.
The black eyes were filled with barely suppressed fear, and Rikugo's second
set of eyes was open. He didn't even close them when Tsuzuki approached,
which was tell-tale enough. Only hesitantly the dragon eyes slid shut.
On the bed lay a very pale and rather small looking Byakko. Tsuzuki
swallowed hard. His friend appeared thin, the silvery-white hair undone
and stringy, no longer so vibrant and soft and a mass of untamed power.
He had been stripped of his clothes and was only clad in a simple shirt
and pants. There were no visible injuries, but even without knowing about
the fight it was quite obvious that Byakko wasn't just sleeping.
"Tsuzuki," the blond greeted him, the voice hoarse and a bit tremulous.
"Thank you for coming."
"Of course I would come!" He hurried over to his shikigami. "What can
I do to help?"
Rikugo drew a shuddering breath, swaying a little.
"Rikugo?" Tsuzuki asked, wrapping his arms around the slim body. Worry
doubled inside him as he felt the weak hug in return.
"We have no time to lose, Tsuzuki."
"What's wrong?"
"Byakko is about to get lost in his own mind, and I... I can't pull
him out, can't reach him. He'll need someone he trusts instinctively, someone
whose call he'll answer any time."
"What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to guide him back."
Tsuzuki gazed at the unconscious tiger. "How?"
"I'll take you with me when I go into his mind again, but instead of
me, you have to be the one to approach him, touch him, talk to him."
"Okay. I think I can do that."
It got him a wan smile. "Thank you."
Tsuzuki gazed at Byakko's too pale form on the bed and decided to ask
the million questions on his mind later. He waited for the astrologer to
make his move.
Rikugo closed his onyx eyes to concentrate, opening his other two pairs.
If Tsuzuki hadn't seen this before, it probably would have freaked him
out. It was a creepy sight to witness his shikigami work his magic. One
red eye rolled around fixating him, and Tsuzuki braced himself --
-- leaning against the heavy brick wall of a dark and spine-chilling
place.
He gasped at the sudden change of environment. Blinking, feeling the
oppressive force of this dungeons almost smother him, Tsuzuki fought against
a sense of vertigo.
Where... where was he?
A warm hand landed on his shoulder and he turned, relieved to find Rikugo
at his side.
"What is this place?" he asked quietly.
"Byakko's mind, at the moment. Yes, I know what it looks like, but unfortunately
we don't have the time to discuss that right now. If we don't hurry up,
we might lose him."
Tsuzuki swallowed looking around, This was a dark, dark place. Like
the dungeons right out of a horror movie. It was damp and dark and oppressive.
There was mold on the wet brick stones, and here and there he thought he
saw something slither and skitter over the stones.
He shivered a little, glad to feel Rikugo's balancing presence with
him.
"Do you know where he is?"
"Yes, I found the place he is hiding right now. Follow me."
Tsuzuki fell in step behind Rikugo. What had happened to the wind god,
his first shikigami, to make him want to hide himself from the world? He
already knew about the devil attack, Touda had kept him informed, but he
hadn't, in his wildest dreams, imagined something like this.
This was like... Tsuzuki swallowed. It felt like the lower levels of
Tenkuu, the prison of Touda, those damp and lonely cells where no one ever
came. Those were levels where only despair reigned. Touda had been locked
away in a place without sun, without happiness, completely cut off from
the world, and now Byakko's mind looked like a worst case mirror image...
"Here," Rikugo's soft tenor pulled him out of his thoughts, as the astrologer
pointed toward a heavy wooden door.
Like everything else, it looked a lot like the ones Tenkuu had in her
deepest dungeons.
"He's in here."
Tsuzuki exchanged worried glances with the taller man, then inhaled
deeply and carefully pushed open the heavy door.

tbc...
- 4
- 5
- 6
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Bete Noir