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Yours Ever - Part 4A Saint Seiya x X fanfiction by Ariane Kovacevic, AKA Fuu-chan. Even though we'd arrived a few minutes before the visiting hour, the cemetery's gates were open. I stared at metallic bars for a second, surprised, and then turned towards Seiya, nodding. "All right, I won't be long. You go on ahead without me, or you'll be late too." He shot me an unconvinced look. "A phone call would have settled it you know...and you wouldn't have to be alone for this." I smiled gently to my friend, and waved his words away. "It's all right." I looked up at the dark clouds filling the sky and let the rain soak my face. "Besides, there are things that are better done alone, and this is one of them. Of course, it'd have been better if Ikki-niisan were here, but he's not." I let out a soft, inaudible sigh as I added in a whisper, "He had another dead to mourn." I shook my head, focusing on the feeling of the raindrops running down my face to chase the sadness away, and smiled again. "So go now, or there'll be no one to greet them at the airport! Go, I say!" Taking in the look of stubbornness in my friend's nut brown eyes, I decided he needed a little more help in order to get going. I reached out to him and gave a gentle push on his left shoulder, adding, "I know you've missed Shiryu a lot, so go!" He smiled at that. "Okay." His left hand reached up and covered mine on his shoulder, squeezing it. "You know my thoughts are with you." I nodded, meeting his eyes and smiling in reassurance, then I turned my back on him and stepped beyond the gates. In a slow movement I pushed away a rebel lock of hair which kept obscuring my vision, and sighed. I was soaked through. There was no sound in the cemetery but the endless music of the rain. I should have taken an umbrella beside the trench coat, but it'd have been more a bother than a help. I set a knee down on the ground in front of the old tomb, unheeding of the cold feeling of the stone seeping inside me even through the rough fabric of my jeans, and joined my hands in a prayer. "Kaa-san...tou-san...." I bowed my head, experiencing a strange emotion spreading in my heart, sadness mixed with emptiness. Sadness both for my parents and myself: I had no memories of them, and I didn't know whether my feelings when I came into this place were genuine. Pain and grief were expected when one came to such a place, but how could I know mine weren't conjured through some unconscious need to match what I thought was the suitable, normal state of mind when visiting a cemetery? For some reason I couldn't have named the thought of harboring feelings which were nothing but a lie felt revolting to me, a bit as if I'd been betraying my parents in experiencing fake emotions. I had no idea what the pain of having lost father and mother might really be; my only example of that had been Shirou Kamui, and that hadn't been a sight I had enjoyed contemplating. I shook my head, watching the bare, simple funeral stone in front of me, and sighed. Here I was, supposedly praying for my parents' rest, and instead of that I was busy feeling sorry for myself. I closed my eyes and chased those thoughts away, trying to bring up images of my father and mother, unsuccessfully. "This way." I looked up, startled by the sound of a voice. In another alley, not far away from where I was, people were gathering for a funeral ceremony. The dead had to have been someone important or respected, given the number of persons present. Through the rain's thick curtain, I suddenly got a glimpse of two silhouettes that I knew, right at the center of the procession. The place of those whose loss was the greatest. Monou Fuuma. Monou Kotori. Clothed in black. Their faces a mask of pain. Dark eyes empty of life, haunted by memories. Gentle hazel eyes veiled with tears. They were alone in the center, which meant they had lost their last parent. I closed the trench coat around me, feeling cold. Feeling cold all over. As I was bowing my head, ashamed of witnessing once again other people's pains without being able to help, I saw two young men quietly step out of the procession and go towards a nearby tree to watch the ceremony from a small distance. The older one I didn't know, his face grave, but the other... Shirou Kamui. Tears streaking down his face, mixing with the rain. Anguish and distress written in his eyes and his stance. Guilt, haunting and terrible to behold. As if he had lost yet another parent, as if-- I blinked in an attempt to tear my mind from the scene. I should have looked away, I should have ended my prayer and left this place. I was intruding, I didn't belong, and I had no wish to witness this ceremony and spy on their grief, but for some reason I didn't move, as if held by a spell. I stayed there and watched this ceremony honoring the passing of a man towards the realm of the dead. And the rain kept pouring down, as if the sky itself was weeping. Suddenly Shirou Kamui pushed away from the tree he'd rested his back against and made to leave, but his companion prevented him. They exchanged words, and, as I saw the anger and exasperation marked in both their faces, I wondered if they weren't going to fight in the middle of a cemetery. What could possess them to-- Rupture. Arrow of fire, breaking harmony. I had a sharp intake of breath, overwhelmed by the sensation as the Nebula's arms spiraled around me, spreading until infinity, shining. Alive. A presence, close. Watching. Observing very attentively. Reflexively I tensed. It was different from the feeling that Sakurazuka Seishirou's apparition had triggered within me. A part of me relaxed, and I let out a slight sigh of relief: it was someone else. I discreetly scanned my surroundings and quickly noticed a man half hidden behind a tree. He wasn't really trying to mask his presence; he expected people to be absorbed by the ceremony, and Shirou Kamui and his companion to be busy with their hot argument. The rain would cover for any noise on his part, and would also serve as a good veil to hide him from view. I half-closed my eyes in an attempt to get a clearer image of him, in vain. Something in the silhouette was familiar to me, but I'd have been unable to say where I had seen this man before. I cursed softly at the weather which made me unable to better discern who the watcher might be. What was sure was that he wasn't interested in the ceremony itself, but in Shirou Kamui or his companion. Abruptly Shirou Kamui was shoved back against a tree by the other. My heart skipped a beat. Damn it, what were they doing? What was going on here? Before it could go any further, a woman appeared beside them, and I saw surprise flashing in Shirou Kamui's eyes, a surprise so intense that for a few seconds bitterness and hatred left his face. The woman turned her back on them and walked away; then the two young men stepped in her wake, leaving the ceremony unnoticed. At once, I had the confirmation that the mysterious man was only interested in them as he left his observation post to follow after them. I smiled to myself. Very well, now was the time for me to gain some bits of information. Shirou Kamui and his friend weren't my concern, but the man spying on them had somehow managed to disturb my cosmo, and I couldn't let him disappear without at least trying to understand how that was possible and who he was. In a slow motion I stood up and, warned by some instinct, the watcher turned towards me. Time froze for a fraction of a second while we faced each other, half-hidden from the other's view by the rain, and then he ran off in silence. I clenched my teeth. There was no way I'd leave it at that this time, no way I'd let him go that easy. I had to know what threat these people represented, and the Goddess knew how glad I'd be to be proven wrong. Unfortunately I was a bit too old to believe in miracles and dreams. A bitter chuckle resounded in the air, disturbing the quiet sound of the rain as I took off the trench coat. It'd only hinder me in my chase. Ignoring the cold, I ran in pursuit of the man. He was fast. I pursed my lips in appreciation. Yes, I could give him that, he'd have lost any other pursuer. I avoided a pedestrian, the image of the man's dumbfounded expression quickly vanishing from my mind. I accelerated, trusting in my use of cosmo. The game wouldn't escape me. Damn him, where was he leading me to? I had passed from a residential district to financial and now a dark suburb. Somehow he still managed to keep a distance between us. I couldn't feel any other use of cosmo than mine, I had no idea what kind of power that man was using. If only I had been wearing my Cloth, this chase would have been over after a fraction of a second; the Chains would have caught him in the blink of an eye. As it was, I had no other option than to depend on-- Wind current. Shrill whistle resounding in the air, almost out of hearing range. Danger. Instinctively I jumped to the side, and saw a flashing piece of metal hitting the ground where I had stood just a moment ago. I looked at the weapon, and raised an eyebrow in surprise. It was some kind of long rope which ended in a beautiful, sharp curved blade. All of a sudden it was pulled away, and then came right back at me with an incredible speed. I avoided it easily and chuckled, saying to the empty air, "Too bad, but that'll be useless against me." Using chainlike weapons against me, of all people! I felt like laughing. It was ridiculous, but at least it proved that this man had no idea who I was, and thus, it just might be that they had nothing to do with us, and posed no threat to Athena. The blade rushed back at me once more, and this time I reached out as I stepped aside to avoid it, taking hold of its short hilt. In the same movement, I gathered my cosmo and jumped up towards the rope's other extremity. There, a silhouette, hidden by the buildings' shadows and the rain. Just as I was focusing on my target, I saw a flash of light from the corner of my eye. A glint of metal.... A second blade, rushing towards me. Cold washed over me as I realized there was no way I could avoid it. There was no time to think, no time to regret the mistake of underestimating the opponent. With all my strength I yanked on the rope I was holding, in the hope of unbalancing my enemy, and in the same time I tapped into my cosmo in a desperate attempt to push back the sharp blade before it could reach me, whispering, Nebula Stream. The howling wind veered the weapon off course, but not enough. It cut through my left arm and at the same time I saw a building's facade rushing towards me. In a flash I realized I had been completely unbalanced by the wind of Nebula Stream and by my movement to pull on the weapon. Before I had a chance to try to react, my body savagely hit a great bay window. Thanks to some kind of miracle, the glass didn't break, and I bounced against it, falling down towards the pavement, half stunned. Falling. Flying. Weightless. A distant part of me idly wondered if the impact would kill me. As I closed my eyes, I thought I saw a golden light rushing towards me. There was a sharp, tearing pain in my left arm, and my head hurt like hell. Suppressing a groan, I opened my eyes, and found myself lying down on the sidewalk, my back resting against a building's wall. It took me a few seconds to focus my eyes enough to see clearly what was around me. It was still raining. I looked at my left arm and saw blood running down my sleeve and staining the concrete. The blade had opened a long, deep cut in it that reached the bone. I had a wry smile as I realized that if it had touched me as its owner had intended, it'd have cut me in half. I sighed, thinking I was a fool to allowed myself to be caught by my enemy's trick. I knew better than to rush in blindly like I had just done. Goddess, I wasn't Seiya! I tried to get up, but renounced as soon as I put some weight on my legs; the smallest movement made me dizzy, and threatened to make me faint. All I needed now was for my opponent to appear and laugh at me. I'd deserve that. I suppressed the self-mocking laugh I could feel rising up my throat, and tried to focus on my situation. For some reason I was unable to fathom, I couldn't feel my enemy's presence anywhere in the vicinity. It felt as though I was completely alone. Suddenly I saw something dark moving in the shadows, a few steps away from me. I tensed, asking sharply, "Dare da?" No answer. Damn it. Forgetting the weakness and the pain filling my body, I opened myself to the feeling of Andromeda and stood up, my heart pounding. I made a step in the direction of the shadow, and in the same time I heard an exasperated sigh. "Stop that. There's no need to waste your strength, I intend you no harm." The voice's tone was bitter, and I knew it, I knew that voice. Unable to believe what I had just perceived, I whispered, "Gemini Saga?" A short, harsh laugh was the answer to my words. "No, but you're close." I shook my head, still trying to come to grips with what was happening. "Then you're Kanon, but how can you....?" He cut me off, and said in a hard voice, "It doesn't matter. What you need to know is I'm not Athena's enemy. Don't hinder me, and don't ask me what I'm doing here. It's no concern of yours." The man who was Gemini Saga's twin brother, who'd been the cold, evil mind behind the cruel wars we'd been forced to fight came out of the shadows and stepped towards me. His deep blue eyes locked on me, full of anger, and of something else I couldn't name. "And stop being a fool and meddling into matters that are better left alone, hear me? Stop trying to understand what's going on!" He bowed his head, and said in voice from which he didn't manage to hide a terrible weariness, "Damn you, why must you always worry? Why can't you let go of the past and lead a normal life?" He shook his head and faced me again, asking, "Why did you have to come back to Tokyo now?" I looked up at him, unable to give him an answer, unable to understand his words and the accusation they'd contained. His presence here didn't make sense, his attitude towards me didn't make sense! I searched his face for hints of what this could mean, in vain. This was the man we had fought under the sea, in the Realm of Poseidon, but he seemed so different from the Marine Shogun we'd been confronted to-- "My presence made your adversary run. It's the second and last time I intervene to save your neck. You've been warned. Forget about all this." That said, he went away without paying me any further attention. I stared in the direction he had walked off for a long time, silent. There were so many things that didn't make sense. How could this man be alive? How could he not be the Sanctuary's enemy...and what did he know of what was going on here? I reached up and closed the fingers of my right hand around my wounded arm, and as I looked down I saw blood slowly staining them. Warm blood. Crimson red. So cold. Distantly I felt myself losing my balance, but it was a dim, unreal sensation. Listening to the rain echoing in my mind, I fell. The giant, old-fashioned clock in front of me indicated noon. There was no light anywhere, it was dark, darker than by a moonless night. I reached out and softly pressed the palm of my right hand against the thick layer of ice which was imprisoning the clock. Its second hand was still ticking, marking each second that passed. I stared at it during a long time, enthralled. There was no sound, silence seemed to reign over this strange and eerie place, absolute. Eventually I turned away from the clock and slowly walked away, unable to gather my thoughts, unable to wonder where I was, why or how. Numb. No echo of my steps resounded in the empty avenue I was following. I walked on, while a distant, almost foreign part of me wondered why I was once again bereft of emotions. A square.... I stopped at its edge for a while. I'd have been unable to say how long I had been walking to get here. Even though I had seen that the second hand of the clock was ticking, it felt as if Time had stopped. As if Time was frozen. I felt a slight smile coming to my lips as I got a glimpse of something on the other side of a curtain of petrified trees. Unhurriedly I walked towards it. There was no need for speed. Time is mine. This world.... I turned around and looked at the human beings encased in their ice coffins all around me who were randomly set in the square like the perfect works of art that they were. Men, women and children, countless. Peaceful. My smiled uncovered my teeth. Dead. At last in harmony with a planet they had almost destroyed in their folly. I searched the frozen faces, and nodded slowly to myself. The lights of anger, sadness, fury, greed, hatred, envy, grief, sorrow and pain were gone from their eyes, gone forever. They were lucky. Death was Peace. I smiled fondly, admiring the perfection of the angles in all the ice statues around me. They're so beautiful like this, and the Earth-- I turned on my left and saw the statue of a strikingly beautiful woman who seemed have been trapped as she was desperately trying to reach another girl. She had long and flowing raven black hair, and everything about her evoked sensuality and desire. I stepped to her side and softly stroked her left cheek through the ice. Looking at the third eye painted on her brow, I laughed joyfully. Fool. Discarding her from my thoughts, I turned away. The Earth is mine. I focused my will, and my surroundings blurred, changing in the blink of an eye from a square filled with eerily beautiful ice statues to barren mountains peaks set in the vicinity of what had once been the capital city of Greece. Here too darkness reigned alone. I walked the last steps of the Great Stairs, and reached the heart of what had once been holy. I looked at the empty pedestal from which the Golden Statue had disappeared, and then I looked down at the altar on which was resting She who had been humanity's protector. A cold wind rose out of nowhere, soundless, as if it didn't dare break the absolute silence which had enshrouded the world. I stared at the young woman's body, and thought that the Guardian of Mankind looked almost serene. Athena, you.... Cold. Violent shivers shook my whole body. So cold. I looked down on the mortal remains of Kido Saori, and felt my eyes widening. Athena...she.... Then I *felt* the silence all around me, and something colder than ice closed its claws around my soul. I shook my head, desperately. The world...dead? No. I cried out, abruptly disturbing the deep silence. "NOOO!" No, it couldn't be, it couldn't...why was it so cold? How could a dream be so cold? So horribly cold? "Hush." Arms came around me, gently imprisoning me in a lover's embrace. A body pressed against mine, giving me warmth. Slowly the vision of the ice coffins dimmed, fading from my mind. The presence beside me gave me peace and chased the fear away. It gave me comfort, gentleness, love-- "You will never feel the cold again." The voice was soft and reassuring. I let myself be engulfed in it, unable to help myself, and fell, feeling my eyes close ever so slowly. I drowned happily, allowing darkness to engulf my heart and my soul. Some small, distant part of me was crying out in terror, but the sensation was so sweet.... "Never." Chains. Holding me. Unbreakable. Black. Offering me. Sacrifice. NOOOOO! All of a sudden I saw a five-pointed star right in front of me. A thin, delicate circle was uniting the star's points, and at the heart of the star's body was a finely engraved inscription. It simply said: "Yours Ever". From the deepest, most secret part of my heart a desperate cry rose. "HELP ME!" Darkness closed around my soul. There was a sound, insistent, a sound I knew well. A sound I loved. I slowly opened my eyes. The sea. Waves endlessly reaching a beach. I stood up, feeling numb. Beyond the sea there was a high mountain range, far in the distance. I looked around me, and thought I knew the feeling of this place. Yes, this was Greece. I started on a slow, aimless walk on the sand, lost. What had happened? I hugged myself, shivering convulsively as images flashed in my mind in answer to the question. Unable to master the storm of unnamed feelings which was coming over me with the strength and violence of a tidal wave, I felt my body shaking as I remembered darkness. As I remembered cold. The dream. I was sure I had dreamed it again, but there had to have been more to it this time. I bit my lower lip, fighting with all my will to send away the fog of dread which was paralyzing my mind. I couldn't bring the memories back. Curse it! Suddenly I saw a man sitting on a rock a dozen steps away from me, watching me. I walked to his side, and asked in a tight voice, "Who are you?" He looked at me during a long time, his eyes searching my face for something only he knew. At last he replied with a smile, both gentle and ironic, "I should be the one asking you this question: who are you, you who called me out of my sleep and pulled me inside your dream, demanding my help?" I shook my head, uncomprehending. "Forgive me, but I have no power over dreams, I couldn't have done what you say." I smiled bitterly. "I don't know where I am, I don't know whether this is yet another dream or reality. I can't remember what the dream was." I let the echoes of my words trail off into silence, still trying to get a grasp on my memories, then abruptly remembered he was there. Bowing, I told him, "I can't remember that dream, I only know that it was frightening. I don't remember calling you, but thank you for your help. My name is Andromeda Shun." He sighed, nodding, and gave me a faint smile. "It's not necessary to thank me. You're trapped in what could be called a dream, a very special kind of dream. My name is Kakyou." I looked up at him. "Please, can you tell me what happened?" He looked away from me, his gaze focusing on the waves during a long minute, and then he said in a soft whisper, "It's the future that you saw, your Fate." I took a sharp intake of breath, remembering the cold. Shaking. Fighting to keep a tight control on the wild emotions his words triggered. In a toneless voice, I said, "Then I must know. I must remember. Help me, please." I suddenly saw sadness and compassion shining in his eyes. He replied with a quiet shake of his head, "I may not. Just as I may not tell others some things that I myself Dream. But remember this..." he stood up from his rock and came over to my side as he said, "although there's only one Future, sometimes a person's Fate is multiple, like reflections in a mirror. As the light hits all the mirrors in a different angle, each image is slightly different from the others. And it's up to you to choose which image will come forth, if you're strong and brave enough to do so." His eyes locked on mine. "Remember my words, Andromeda Shun." The fingers of his left hand brushed my brow. "Now, go back where you belong." Something...cold...wet.... Falling upon me endlessly. Drops...a myriad of them...a melody.... A thought formed in my mind. Rain. It was raining. I blinked, and then looked up at the dark grey sky. I was alive. I gathered my strength and got up. I felt weak, but other than that everything seemed fine. Blood had stopped running from my wound. I had no idea how much time had passed since Kanon had left me. I had no idea how much time had passed during my...dream. I shivered, feeling both hot and cold in the same time. I still couldn't bring up anything else than a feeling of horror out of it. My Fate...the future. Had the man named Kakyou been another dream? A senseless construction of my mind? Somehow, I couldn't believe that, and thus it meant that my dream was much more than an expression of my inner fears...but how could Shaka and Athena have missed that? I sighed, unable to understand, and walked away. No matter what had happened, I had to get back to the Graude Foundation, I had to see Seiya, I had to talk to him, to tell him about this. It was the only thing that mattered. The rest would come later. I leaned heavily against a wall, feeling faint. Stars were dancing in front of my eyes, and the pain was a distant, faraway thing which had almost lost all meaning. I was feeling so cold that this perception dimmed any other thing I might have felt. Suddenly I heard steps, as if echoing through a long tunnel, and saw a blurred shape stop beside me. "My, look at this!" There was a mixture of surprise and amusement in the voice. It was close, close enough for me to hear it clearly even though I was drowning in darkness. A hand touched me and instinctively I tried to free myself from it. The same voice said gently, "Hey, it's okay, I only want to help." I looked up with difficulty, and managed to focus just enough to see startlingly clear blue eyes watching me. The person who was there passed my right arm around his shoulders, supporting my weight, and I gratefully closed my eyes in acceptance of the help, too far gone to care who was my benefactor. "Well, I simply didn't feel like it, Satsuki dear." The words, so distant they were almost inaudible, troubled the dark waters in which I had sought refuge. "So, you can't tell me anything about him?" I had no wish to leave the darkness. It enveloped me and protected me from knowledge and memory, from feeling...but I had to wake up. I had to. A part of me fought that certitude, arguing that more rest was needed, that sleep was better, but in the end I opened my eyes. "Amazing, there actually is something that can resist this Beast of yours." I was lying in a sofa, and there was a thick blanket covering me. I was in what appeared to be the living room of a comfortable apartment. I fought the itching sensation on my chest as I felt the rough fabric of the blanket rubbing against my skin. It'd have been nice to have a soft linen shirt protecting me from.... All of a sudden I realized that I was practically naked under that stupid blanket. Someone had undressed me, and bandaged my wound. I still felt weak, but not as much as before. The feeling of cold which had gripped my whole being earlier was mostly gone, replaced by a very agreeable sensation of warmth. A man chuckled, not far away. "Yes, of course I'll be! Don't worry. See you." I distinctly heard the sound of a phone receiver being put down, and then my host came back in the living room. He was tall and slim, beautiful, strikingly so. Blonde hair which shone brightly with the light of day. Clear blue eyes, in which there could be laughter as well as merciless determination. Yes, of course. He flashed a smile in my direction as he noticed I was awake. "Why, hello." He sat down on the side of the sofa and looked at me, asking, "Are you feeling better now?" I stared back at him in silence, feeling something tugging at the back of my mind. Eventually I discarded the nagging feeling, and focused on him. Out of habit, I smiled and answered, "Yes, thank you very much, Kigai-san." He started, apparently surprised that I recognized him, and I chuckled. "I have a good memory of persons and names, you see." He gave me a thoughtful nod, silent. I waited for a few seconds, but when it became clear he didn't intend to reply, I decided the time for small talk was over. Looking up at him, I asked, in earnest, "Tell me, how did I end up here?" He had a slight shrug, as if the question had been unimportant. "Well, as I was leaving my job I saw someone nearby who seemed to be in bad trouble. Naturally I went to help and saw it was the young man who'd saved a girl in such a flashy way at Tokyo Tower last month. You fainted before I could ask you what was wrong. You had a high fever, which I think was responsible for your loss of conscience, as well as a deep cut in your left arm. I have a good friend who knows how to take care for that kind of wound. I called him and he cared for it. It's nothing, or so he told me." I looked into the clear blue eyes, taking in his words, and searching his face for something I couldn't have named. There was something was wrong in all this. He was so ordinary, so normal; his smile was so guileless...things didn't add up, somehow, but I couldn't point out what it was that marred the picture his words had painted. Dismissing the matter for the time being, I asked him, "Umm...would you happen to know where my clothes are?" He nodded, grinning at me. "Of course! You were soaked through, and with that fever..." his blue eyes locked on mine and he added in a whisper, "I had to undress you." His smile...there was a sudden lurch in my heartbeats, and I blushed without knowing why. He laughed, a clear sound that resounded in the living room, and gave me a gentle pat on the right shoulder. "I put your clothes to dry, you'll soon get them back, never fear." I looked at the blanket covering my body, suddenly self-conscious, and thought he must be having fun at my expense after witnessing the way I had reacted to his words. He stood up, asking, "Now that you're awake, do you feel like some hot tea?" I thought about that for a while, and eventually decided to take him up on his offer. Nodding, I said, "Yes, it'll feel good to hold a hot cup in my hands." As he stepped away from me, the sunlight caught on one of his cufflinks and I blinked as I saw the glint of metal. The memory of a shining curved blade flashed in front of my eyes, and I felt a shiver along my spine. Why? Sending the useless question away, I focused on the man standing a few steps away from me, and asked him conversationally, "Tell me, Kigai-san, aren't you going to ask me why I was wounded this way? Haven't you reported what happened to the police?" He froze, tensing almost imperceptibly. There was a moment of silence, and then eventually he replied in a quiet voice, "No, and I have no intention of doing so." He turned to face me, a smile on his face. "It'd seem you found me out, didn't you, Shun-san?" His smile never reached his eyes. Discarding the threat, I shrugged and told him, "I have a good memory, I told you so." I looked up and held his gaze with mine. "What do you intend to do now?" We faced each other in silence, unmoving during a long minute, and then he abruptly turned away, going towards the kitchen and answering, "I'm going to brew some tea." So, he didn't seem to feel like fighting anymore. Stranger still was the fact that he had helped me when the logical course of action for him would have been either to leave me in the street, or to kill me. Weird.... Could it be he wasn't my enemy and had attacked me simply because he felt threatened? Had I been wrong all along? Was Kanon right, should I have given up on trying to understand what was going on? But then.... I closed the blanket around me, shivering. But then what about the dream I had had? Provided that had been a dream.... And what about those things I couldn't remember but which triggered such a terrified response in my soul? Kigai Yuuto came back with two cups of tea, cutting my train of thoughts. He handed me one, saying with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "There's no poison in it, don't worry." I gingerly took the cup and drank a long swallow from it, careful not to burn my tongue, then smiled at him. "It'd be crazy of you to poison me now, wouldn't it?" Studying his face, I added in a quiet whisper, "I have to say that you wield that weapon of yours very skillfully." He chuckled softly, apparently unmoved by my abrupt change of subject. "Thank you. In my turn, I must congratulate you: no one had ever been able to avoid the blades and read their trajectory so easily." I nodded silently, not about to explain to him that chainlike weapons like his were useless...when I remembered to focus my mind on the enemy. He drank from his own cup, and then looked me right in the eyes. "I don't know why I didn't kill you. I should have..." he shook his head, as if at a loss to understand his illogical behavior, and went on, "but for some reason, I'd rather not have to. So I'll tell you this: we have nothing against the Graude Foundation, and it has nothing to do with us. We never crossed it and it had better never cross us either. What we intend isn't its business, and doesn't involve it, in any way. We don't know who and what you are. We simply know you're a power that exists, a power which never cared about us till now, never knew of our existence till now. It must stay this way. We're not the Foundation's enemy. Leave us be, and we'll let you be." I returned his look, unflinching, and smiled, weary of threats and confrontations like this one. "Death isn't something that can frighten me, Kigai-san, no more than I think it can frighten you." I sighed. "Believe me that I aspire to nothing more than an ordinary and peaceful life." I shook my head, looking out the bay window of his living-room, and let bitterness come to my smile. "You tell me you're not our enemies, and I want nothing more than to believe you. You have no idea how much I wish this to be true." No, he had no idea, he couldn't understand how much I wished nothing of this had ever happened. I followed the flight of a flock of small birds for a few seconds, but they disappeared behind the ever-present skyscrapers. Remembering Kigai Yuuto, I went on, "I'll heed your words and I won't look further in your direction, but in turn you'll heed mine." I faced the young man whose looks of shallow dandy had completely fooled me the first time we had met, sustaining the unyielding gaze of those pale blue eyes, and told him in a deadly quiet voice, "You who don't know what we are, know this: we'll rise in the defense of this world and of humanity if ever something threatened it. And whoever or whatever that threat might be would be destroyed. You cannot begin to imagine who we are." He looked back in silence, taking in my words. Then he nodded slowly, his eyes locked on mine. "I heard you." He reached out to me, and I let him. His fingers traced my cheeks in a gentle caress as he said, "And I hope never to meet you again on a battlefield." Before I could move, he bent over me and his lips brushed against mine, in the soft ghost of a kiss. Sunshine, was the bewildered, incoherent thought which formed in my brain, he tastes of lilacs and sunshine. A fragment of eternity later he released me, and whispered in my ear, "You're free to go. As soon as your clothes are dry." Then he stood up and left the living room. I stared at his retreating back with my heart was beating so fast that I was feeling dizzy. He stopped on the threshold of the room and said, without turning back, "Pray that Fate never brings us together again. Because if they do, I won't leave the fight unfinished...and I'll kill you." He left the living room and I laid back in the sofa, staring at the ceiling, and wondering. Beyond shock, fear, refusal and anger, there was another emotion in my heart, one which I was unable to name. The sun was setting as I reached the gates of the Foundation's mansion. I remembered telling Seiya I'd join him shortly this morning and sighed. I could only hope they hadn't worried too much. My guess was that they were either waiting for me here, or that I'd find information on my friends' whereabouts once inside the mansion. I stepped into the estate, wondering what I'd tell them. What exactly had I learnt? That there existed a group of people possessing a power that could have been called magic who were after a goal I had no idea about? That they'd kill without mercy to reach it? That I was haunted by a dream which frightened me so much that I couldn't remember anything about it? That I had seen someone in another dream who had told me I had dreamed of the future? All this seemed so impossible, so absurd.... Suddenly I saw someone standing beside the mansion's main door, apparently waiting for me, half hidden by the shadow and the weak light of dusk. That silhouette, strong and tall...could it be? I ran towards him, and flung myself in his arms. His arms closed around me in a gentle hug, and I looked into his dark grey eyes, shaking my head and feeling relief fill my heart. I smiled, holding him back and whispering, "Nii-san...Ikki-niisan, you've come." End of part 4.
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