Jormei ran, plasma beams cutting through the smoke and darkness. Bits of glittering shrapnel reflected in the intermittent light down the alley, like a strobe light parody of a dance floor, flickering with his every frantic heartbeat. From behind the cries of his friends burned his soul, their pain ricocheting through the widening gap between his heart and his flesh. Blood that was not his ran sticky and hot over his neck, and the weight on his shoulders stirred, groaning. "Put me down." "We're almost there. I can see the grate... Just hang in there, Ariel." "Please, Jormei." Armored footsteps thumped down the alley after them, in retreat. Jonathan's order to get below echoed behind them, his red and black armor seeming to be part of the night and the fire as he fought at the mouth of the alley. "You'll die." Jormei's voice was raw. "Either way. You can't heal this, Jormei. I won't die underground." Jormei let his younger twin slip from his shoulders, lowering him to broken pavement. The dirty rainwater turned russet with blood, staining Ariel's braids a dirty kind of bruised purple. Gauntleted fingers clutched at Jormei's shoulders, aqua eyes blindly seeking sky. "I can't see... are there stars?" Jonathan reached them at last and scattered to an untidy halt, sending glass skipping away. "Oh god." Jormei lifted his brother's hands to his face, and nodded. "Yes. Everywhere. Galaxies like you've never seen. " He was grateful that the armor on his sibling's skin could not detect tears. Erik emerged from the smoke, limping heavily, Ian practically carrying him. Erik's eyes were ice-bright in the dimness, his armor a dull orange glow. Ian held a hand to his side and awkwardly sought support against graffiti-spattered brick, fist to his mouth to stop a sob not inspired by pain. None of them glanced back to see if they'd been followed. "I always know when you're lying." Ariel managed a smile through his cough, lips reddened. "Haven't been stars here for years, not that you could see... Listen. Bring them back, all of you." Ariel groped out for those he sensed but could not see. Ian stretched out a hand but could do no more; Jonathan grasped Ariel's forearm firmly, his mouth a tight line. "Bring them back. For me." His breastplate, still blue under a smear of blood and ashes, sank once, rattled faintly, and stilled. No glamour, no glow, no whirl of light came to steal him back to the sky. He just died. The silence lasted a second of eternity, rent abruptly by Jormei's anguished wordless cry. From somewhere inside all of them a jagged edge reared, sliced through bone and armor and muscle, and eviscerated one fifth of their souls. Lost Legacy Chapter One: The Beginning Hearts that cry diamond tears
Kento rested his head against the side of the pool, catching his breath. He was getting too old for these late night parties, but Yuli had just gotten back from his term abroad, and there'd been stories and presents and a lot of Kirin ichiban to get through. Yuli had taken off early to catch the train back to Tokyo, bright and cheerful and not the least bit hung over. Kento snorted into the water. Yeah, he could do that too, when he was nineteen. Nineteen, right. He hadn't finished his laps. "Are you done yet?" Sai's voice cut through the heavy summer air, dim over the loud splash of Kento's limbs plowing through water. He glubbed faintly and surfaced, nodding. "Yeah, Why? Ya wanna show me how long you can hold your breath?" Kento grinned cheerfully, rolling onto his back and kicking idly past Sai's feet. Sai rolled his eyes, busily lacing up one well-loved converse trainer. "Oh really. Out, out. We should have left ten minutes ago. Sage will be livid." "And boy, Sage livid is SO different from Sage happy or Sage tired or Sage rollerblading naked, is it?" Kento hauled himself out of the water, rivulets rushing down his body to puddle on the deck. His towel was warm from sunshine, and he shook a grasshopper off it before scrubbing at his dripping limbs. Sai snorted delicately. "If you really think that, then you have been in a coma for the past six years we've been together, haven't you?" He freed his fingers from a knot and stood, brushing at his tank top. "C'mon. I've brought your clothes." Kento sighed and stripped out of his trunks into the pair of cutoffs and T-shirt Sai had brought, shaking water out of his hair as they crunched across gravel to the parked jeep. "Why can't he pick himself up from shopping?" "Because Rowen had to have the car this morning to take Yuli to the station." Sai jigged his keys impatiently. "Sage was in such a good mood, I'm not about to be responsible for spoiling it." Kento nodded. "Well in that case--" he was interrupted by an off-key but enthusiastic noise from the back porch, punctuated by the slamming screen door. "You spin me right round baby right round like a record baby--" Rowen jammed down the back steps, oblivious to his audience, the beat leaking out of his earphones into the humid air. "Rowen! Turn that down! You're going to go deaf!!" Sai scowled as Rowen completely failed to take note of him, too busy bopping his head and humming while tugging on his sneakers by the back door. "Too late." Kento started to lean his arms on the hood of the jeep, but the hot metal was too much for his bare-armed liking. "He's been deaf for years. 'Specially when it's his turn to do the dishes." Sai's eyebrows came together in a way that usually had Kento running for cover, minus whatever he had just tried to swipe from the fridge. "Rowen! TURN YOUR MUSIC DOWN!!!!!" Nike and Sony went airborne in separate directions as Rowen fell promptly on his startled ass. "Wha' the fuh?" "Thank you." Sai smiled faintly. The walkman lay blissfully silent in the grass a few yards away. "We're going to get Sage, are you coming with us?" "Nah," Rowen picked up his stereo, pressed a button, frowned, rapped it smartly against the porch post and beamed as the tape started up again. "I'm takin' my bike out for a while, it's too damn hot ta ride in a car, or sit still either." "Well, be careful. It's going to storm soon." As if predicted, a cool warning wind whipped the trees above their heads, smelling of rain and static discharge. Thunderheads coiled in dark anticipation on the horizon. "All the bettah. Don' worry about me." Rowen grinned, saluting lazily. "I'll be back before dinner." "Of course," Kento grumbled, hissing as his legs contacted burning vinyl seat. "Damn Ryou, he's probably drinking Pina Coladas and doing swan dives in Mt Fuji right now. Bleah." Rowen shook his head. "Actually he's sittin' in a bonfire out back… want me ta get him?" Sai and Kento exchanged a glance. "No." Thunder ripped across the violet and black sky like a platinum dragon, blazing fire in its wake. Sage hovered on the front porch, not drawn there by his element, but fretting quietly. It was well after dinner and Rowen wasn't back. It wasn't unlike the archer to loose track of time, but he only missed a meal if he was studying and something about the summer thunderstorm felt wrong to Sage. He shivered in a rush of cold wind, trees fluttering their silvered undersides like giggling girls trying to flirt with him. The hair on his forearms stood up, every trained alarm in his body warning of something. "Now, by the pricking of my thumbs..." Sage didn't jump, but his quick spin spoke of more surprise than a twitch would have. "You too, I see." Sai shrugged, shutting the porch door behind him, and looking up into the tumultuous sky. "Although I don't know if it's something wicked this way comes. But something." His hair ruffled in the breeze, making him look strange and mystical as he peered at clouds. Sage tossed his hair irritably. "Ryou says I'm getting paranoid-- expecting things." Sai lifted one shoulder. "I think we've earned the right to our paranoia." Sage opened his mouth to agree, but was stalled by the sight of a single headlight cutting through wild rain and tree trunks. "He better have a damn good excuse." Sage turned on his heel and stalked into the house. Sai leaned on the chipped white painted railing and sighed almost dreamily, stray droplets dampening his hair. Even after all this time, there were still games Sage and Rowen played, like Sage not wanting Rowen to know he'd been worried. Sai shook his head. It wasn't as if either one of them was fooling anybody. He shivered. Sage did have a point though. This wasn't a usual storm. Sai wouldn't have been happy to know Kento was out in it, alone. Ryou was probably right; too many years of battles and supernatural had left them all jumping at thunderclaps. There was a roar of laboring engine, and Sai's eyes widened faintly as Rowen wheeled into the drive, spattering muddy gravel into the yard. He dismounted before the bike was done spluttering, leaving it where it lay. "Hey, what's up?" Ryou glanced up from the blaring television as Sai sprinted from the back door through the kitchen, heading for the pantry, door slamming behind him with a gunshot bang. "We're not paranoid," The warrior snapped as his only explanation, a second before Rowen kicked the door open and yelled to clear the couch. In his arms he carried a limp figure, with midnight dark hair plastered to a pale face. But it wasn't the wild look in Rowen's eyes or the unconscious boy in his arms that brought the room to their feet and the shocked gasp from Mia. It was the scratched and muddied body armor sculpted to his form, that save for being black where it should have been white was identical to that of the old Korin Yoroi. "My... my god..." Mia shakily righted her cup and ignored the ice water that had spilled on the carpet. "Is he--" "I don't know." Rowen carefully placed his burden on the couch. "Sai could you get some--" Sai appeared in the room, steaming cup in his hand. "--tea." "Wherever did you find him, Rowen?" Sai managed to make it sound as though Rowen had discovered the rare Saint Seiya manga he'd been hunting. "He kinda exploded out in front of me... nevah seen anything like it, an' from me, that's somethin." Rowen glanced up at Sage. "Sage, his armor--" "I see it, Rowen." Sage's voice was completely calm, violet eyes narrowed. He strode over to the sofa, leaning over Rowen's foundling. "It's black." "Black, nothing." Ryou gestured to the breastplate. "We've had enough of black armor, thanks. But it shouldn't even exist anymore. The original yoroi was destroyed." Sage tossed his hair irritably. "Was it? You know, I hadn't noticed." "Stop it, both of you," Mia ordered. "His armor can wait." "Is he evil?" Kento wanted to know. "Who is he?" Rowen shot Kento a look. "Gee, I dunno, I guess I shoulda asked him before saving his life. Whatever funkadelic kinda bike he was on blew sky high not ten seconds after I got him away from it, and he was already out cold. And he wasn't wearing a nametag, ya think? B'jezus. I thought I caught hell fa bringin' a DOG home." "This armor and mine are the same." Sage's voice brought the tempers in the room to bay, while Sai lifted the young man's head and smoothed the wet hair carefully. Sage's yoroi ball glowed in his hand, pulsing in tandem with the faint light of the black and green armor. "But... how is that possible?" Sai carefully wiped a smudge off the boy's face. "When the original armor shouldn't even exist?" Sai blinked at his fingers, and at the blood dripping on the sofa. "Forget that. He's hurt, Sage." Sage's brow furrowed; he leaned over Rowen's charge appraisingly. "I can heal that in no time--" His sentence died unfinished as the room filled with a green glow, the strange familiar armor flaming verdant for a few seconds before vanishing altogether, as if the light of Sage's armor orb was more than it could bear. The stranger's cuts were healed, but on his pale skin were scarred memories of many others. "Did you do that?" Kento inquired quietly of Sage. Sage shook his head. Mia grabbed the chenille afghan and draped it around him with practiced skill, having nursed any number of injuries on the warriors under her roof. "Whoever he is, he's not evil." She paused, placing her hand over Sai's to keep the dark hair swept back from the delicate-featured face. Her line of work was about nothing if not connections, and she had learned to see them even when others did not. Her eyes moved sideways from the stranger to Sage, but after judging the tension in the room she chose to keep to herself what she wondered. "I'll go get the guest room ready." "What's this?" Ryou moved back the afghan to examine a sleek silver bracelet, the only thing that had remained on after the armor dissipated. It fit tightly around the boy's wrist, and seemed to have no hinge. "Lemme see that…" Rowen scooted over to get a better look. "Doesn't look like much, does it? Hm." His curious fingers brushed the underside, searching for a catch. "Let go!!!" The arm was jerked from his hand, and a pale blur shot from one end of the couch to the other. Deep purple eyes blinked at them in fear and confusion. "Who are you? Where am I?" "Whoa whoa, just slow down--" Ryou took a step forward but stopped as the young man tensed, power moving visibly through his frame. Even naked and crouched on their couch he managed to seem intimidating. He shifted slightly, ready to bolt. "No one is going to hurt you," Sai soothed. Vibrant eyes twitched toward him, but the rest of him was still, trembling like a touched bowstring. "Where am I?" Each word was pronounced carefully. Rowen tilted his head. The Japanese he used was slightly strange. "You're safe," Rowen said, standing up from the carpet. "I found you." He appeared to consider this information carefully, eyes flicking over the room. "I don't belong here." "Damn straight," Kento muttered, but went quiet when Sai glared at him. "Who are you?" The boy demanded. "I'm Ryou." Ryou gestured around the room. "This is Sai, Rowen, Kento, and Sage." Sai leaned forward, smiling encouragingly. "What's your name?" He blinked hard at Sai, but harder still at Rowen. "I-- I don't…" He shifted down to the couch seat, scowling at the throw rug. "remember…" "You were hurt, hit your head." Sai edged a little closer, then sat down across from him when he didn't flee. "And however you got here must have rattled you some, but you're safe now, and we can help you." Sai pressed the mug of warm tea into the boy's shaking hands, and folded his fingers around it. "You have to trust us." Beneath Sai's bangs was a brief flicker of blue light, his power hummed faintly. Their foundling looked dazed now, unsure as a newborn fawn. "You don't remember your name?" He shook his head slowly, dark hair flopping over one eye. He brought the mug up to his lips and drank automatically, not seeming to taste it. The bracelet flashed in the light as he did so, strangely engraved letters lighting briefly gold. Sage tilted his head, deciphering them. "Is your name Jormei?" He hesitated, tasting it in his mouth a few times. "I think so." Sai talked softly at him while Sage tugged Ryou over and gestured to Rowen to listen in. Kento just watched Sai warily, making sure he wasn't going to get attacked anytime soon. "His name doesn't make any sense." Ryou looked at the other two, hoping for answers. "If it is his name. It's not Japanese." "I think it is." Sage ran a hand through his hair, one of the few nervous gestures he possessed. "Although it's corrupted slightly. It might be an older form, but I'm not certain of the spelling, I don't think it's entirely foreign--" Rowen blew at his bangs. "You have point, right?" Sage sighed in exasperation. "Jormei. Jyomei. It's too perfect not to be." "Jyomei?" Ryou blinked. "Like, expelled?" Rowen's vocabulary was a little better than Ryou's. "A beginning of light." He whistled. "Damn, that's archaic." "It fits." Sage glanced back at the couch, where Sai was carefully removing the mug from Jormei's fingers. Whatever it had been dosed with was putting him quickly to sleep. "Even if it didn't, I would be certain. His name doesn't matter. I know a Korin wearer when I see one." "But if he is," Ryou said, "then where did he come from?" "And," Rowen added, "where are the others?" The three of them looked at Jormei, and at the network of scars over his back. None of them felt compelled to answer. ~tbc~ by Tenshi no Korin
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