[fic]The World is Bound in Secret Knots (Part three)
Title: The World is Bound in Secret Knots
Fandom: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
Rating: T
Pairings/Warnings: AU, KuroFai, Significant Capitalization
Summary: AU. Ever since the death of his parents, Kurogane has guarded the Shrine at World's End alone. Until the night he meets a particular stranger...
When Kurogane arrived back at World’s End the sky had already grown dark with clouds, nearly obscuring even the moon. There was no light to be seen anywhere save for the single candle shining in the window of his house. He knew immediately that the candle must have been placed there by Fai, and that its presence meant that Fai was still waiting there for him.
Part of him had wondered if Fai would be there when he got back or if the other man had decided to run off now that his secret had been revealed. The sight of the candle in the window made Kurogane feel suddenly relieved, even though he wasn’t really sure why. Certainly it would have made things easier for Kurogane, if the idiot had run off. If Fai had gone, after all, the dragons would likely follow him and the kingdom wouldn’t be in danger anymore, and Kurogane would finally have some peace and quiet. And even so, knowing all this, Kurogane couldn’t help but feel relieved.
All was quiet as Kurogane entered the house. At first Kurogane wondered if he had been mistaken, if Fai had truly left after all, and then the door to the next room open and Fai stepped out. As always there was a bright smile on his face, but his once-blue eyes glittered an unmistakable gold in the candlelight.
“I’m back,” Kurogane said shortly.
“You’re late,” Fai said, still unfailingly cheerful, the mask unbroken. “You let your dinner get cold, Kuro-rin.”
Kurogane felt a sudden spike of irritation.
“Don’t give me that crap,” he snapped. “The kid showed you the book, right? That’s why you ran off.”
“Did Syaoran-kun show you the story, too, Kuro-rin?” Fai looked away from him. “It wasn’t quite correct in that book, though. That’s how stories are, after all.” He paused and looked back at Kurogane, golden eyes seeming to almost glow in the darkness. “Would you like to hear the full story, Kuro-tan?”
“I’ve been hearing a lot of stories today,” Kurogane muttered. Fai laughed brightly.
“But this is a good one, Kuro-sama!” Fai’s gaze caught and held him, like a rabbit held by a falcon’s stare. “Once upon a time - it has to be once upon a time to be a good story, right? - there was a goddess of wind who stole a pretty gem from the dragons and used it to create two twin children. Their names were in the language of the wind that no one but gods can speak, but in the tongue of humans they were named Fai and Yuui.
“They lived on the peak of the highest mountain in the west, just the two of them and their mother. Eventually the goddess of the wind chose to leave her children, but before she did she gave them one command: ‘All the winds here will belong to you. But even so, you must never venture into the lower mountains. Stay here together at the mountain’s peak and you will always be safe.’”
A cold breeze blew past Kurogane’s face and the candlelight flickered slightly with the sudden winds.
“The two children lived in happiness for a long long time,” Fai continued, seemingly unaware of the mountain winds that were beginning to rise and swirl around him. “As long as they were together, it didn’t matter to them that their mother had gone or that they couldn’t leave the mountain’s peak. As long as they had each other, there was nothing more they could have wished for.”
Fai grew silent for a moment and the wind blew harder. Even so, when he spoke again Kurogane could hear his voice clearly.
“And then one day, Yuui disobeyed the only order their mother had given. He decided to descend into the mountains to explore, and that was where he met the dragon.
“At first, Yuui was curious. The first dragon he met was very large and very old, sleeping in a patch of sun. Yuui went up to it to get a closer look, and as he did its enormous eyes opened. Yuui ran away, but it was too late. The dragon had looked in his eyes and knew what treasure was hidden there.”
The winds began to howl and Kurogane found himself backed up against the wall. Still Fai’s calm voice could be heard as he continued to speak.
“From then on, Yuui went down into the mountains every day. At first he only watched the dragon from afar, but eventually he went up to it and spoke with it. He thought perhaps they could be friends. He didn’t know that the dragon wanted him to believe that, didn’t know that the dragon was biding his time until Yuui was comfortable enough to let down his guard so that he wouldn’t be fast enough to escape when the dragon finally chose to attack.
“One night, the dragon brought one of his treasures for Yuui to see and told Yuui that if he came down to the lowest caves the next morning the dragon would allow Yuui into his cave to see all his treasures. Yuui, all trusting, agreed. He returned to the mountain’s peak, but before he went to sleep that night he eagerly told Fai everything that had happened.”
The wind abruptly died to down to nothing. In the eerie silence left behind, all that could be heard was Fai’s trembling voice.
“The next morning, Fai awoke early. He was worried about the dragon, about Mother’s warning and about what could happen to Yuui. While Yuui was still asleep, Fai descended the mountain to where Yuui had promised to meet the dragon. And when he got there, hundreds of dragons were waiting for him.”
Fai was shaking all over now. Though he was still staring straight at Kurogane he didn’t seem to be seeing the other man at all.
“I woke up to find Fai gone. I looked all over for him, but I didn’t know where he’d disappeared to. Finally I went down the mountain, hoping he’d gone ahead to wait for me. It was when I finally reached the lowest caves that I found him. They’d torn out his eye, the eye that contained the treasure, but that wasn’t enough for them. They’d ripped him open completely and then just left him there bleeding.”
Fai took a shuddering breath that seemed to shake his whole body.
“He wasn’t quite dead when I found him. I had to stay there with him, had to watch him take his last breath, felt the winds around him die at the same moment he did. I waited there with him and held him and felt his blood on my hands, and then he died and I’m all alone, forever. And it’s all my fault, because it should have been me. I’m the one who broke Mother’s law. I’m the one who didn’t realize what the dragons were planning.”
He didn’t even seem to be talking to Kurogane now. Looking at him Kurogane had the wild thought that part of Fai wasn’t there at all, that part of him was still there on the frozen mountainside.
“They took something precious from me,” Fai continued, staring down at his own hands. “My most precious thing, and they took it. I can’t - I couldn’t let them go after that. They’d taken my precious thing, so I took theirs. I called the winds to me and placed a curse on every dragon in the mountains, on all those living and those yet to be born. No matter how hard they flap their wings, the winds will refuse to rise beneath them, will refuse to bear them up into the sky. That wind is mine. I won’t let them use it, ever again.”
“So you had your revenge.” As Kurogane spoke Fai’s head snapped up in surprise, as if he’d completely forgotten Kurogane was even there. “And that’s why you ended up sealed away.”
Fai gave him a smile that looked almost sickly in the candlelight.
“Something like that,” he said. “I went back to the mountain’s peak after that, but they wouldn’t just let me be alone. They kept coming after me. When I killed the ones that chased after me the dragons began to send all kinds priests and shrine maidens and people of spiritual power after me, and I killed all of them too. I’m a murderous rogue god, after all. Someone had to stop me.” His golden eyes flashed predatorily. “So you see, Kurogane, I really am a dangerous person.”
Kurogane raised an eyebrow at the use of his full name. Fai slowly crossed the floor towards him, a cold smile on his face. He raised his head, face inches from Kurogane’s, one hand resting on the hilt of Kurogane’s sword.
“So will you kill me, Kurogane?” Fai asked in low tones. “You’re supposed to protect the kingdom, after all. I’m the reason the dragons broke through the barrier, the reason they’re coming here. What will you do now?”
Kurogane stared at him, caught by those piercing golden eyes. It was true, what Fai was saying. His very presence endangered the kingdom. Furthermore, Fai had escaped from the Shrine at World’s End. As the current caretaker of the Shrine, it was Kurogane’s job to be sure that everything imprisoned inside remained imprisoned. Beyond that, it had been his negligence that had allowed Fai to escape in the first place and so it was Kurogane’s duty to rectify his own mistake. But with Fai staring at him like that, his eyes dangerous and his voice hopeless, Kurogane knew there was only one thing he could do.
He punched Fai across the head as hard as he could.
Taken by surprise, Fai tumbled forward and landed on his hands and knees on the floor. He stared up at Kurogane with wide confused eyes.
“Why the hell would I waste my time trying to kill an idiot like you?” Kurogane snapped. “The dragons took away someone you loved. Fine. You’ve had your revenge for thousands of years. Give the dragons what they want and then move on with your damn life.”
Fai started to laugh, but there was no humor in it.
“That’s what you would do, isn’t it Kurogane?” Fai’s smile was tight and painful. “When we talked about your parents, you said there was no point in dwelling on what you’d lost, that you had your own life to live.”
“That’s right,” Kurogane said shortly.
“You can say that because you’re human.” Fai looked at him and all of a sudden Kurogane felt a rush of pure power that left him unable to move, unable even to breathe. It was gone almost as soon as it came but for the first time Kurogane was truly aware of exactly what kind of power was sleeping inside Fai. “I’m a god. Gods have long lives and longer memories. When something happens to a human, no matter how painful, eventually they will start to forget. The pain will dull, the wound will scar. Gods aren’t like that. We remember everything clearly and we can’t forget things even if we want to.” He wrapped his arms around himself as if cold. “Every time I think about Fai, I’m back there again, kneeling on the ground with his blood on my hands. It doesn’t fade. It’s not just a memory like a human has. I’m there again, Kurogane. Every moment I remember it. No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to move past that moment. I’m always there in the snow with him. You said I’ve had my revenge for a thousand years? That’s like nothing to me, not when Fai is dying in my hands. Another thousand years will pass and I will still be there, do you understand? As long as Fai remains dead, I can’t remember him any other way. As long as Fai remains dead, I cannot move from that spot, even if I wanted to. That’s the curse that comes from being a god, you see. The painful things never scar over. That wound will always be bleeding out, forever.”
Kurogane stared down at him impassively and silence hung heavy between them.
“I was going to run,” Fai said at last, his voice only a whisper on the wind. “Before you got back. I was going to run the night I escaped the jar, while you slept. But the bath was warm and the bed was warm and I haven’t been warm in so long, I thought I might stay one more day. And it was just so much fun, being there with you, so I stayed another day, and another. I knew the dragons were coming for me. I knew you’d be in danger if I stayed too long, because if the dragons know that I’ve been set free then they know where I am, and who’s hiding me. Even if I ran now they wouldn’t just let you go. But I couldn’t just run without seeing you again. I couldn’t. And now it’s too late.” Fai suddenly stood, looking Kurogane in the face. “So you’ll have to, Kurogane. Go. Now. If I’m here on the beach when the dragons come, they won’t bother with you.”
“I don’t run,” Kurogane said coldly. “You should know better than to ask.”
“I can fight them here,” Fai argued. “This is where I was born, my powers are strongest here.”
“All of them?” Kurogane asked, unmoved. “I felt them when they broke the barrier. There are hundreds of dragons coming this way. You may be a god, but dragons can still kill you.”
“I’m not afraid,” Fai said. There was no trace of cheer in his expression now, only an old sadness that weighed him down like a chain.
“Neither am I.” Kurogane swept past him, hand on his sword. “I’m not leaving a moron like you alone. If you won’t give them what they want, we’ll just have to make them give up.”
“Kurogane!” Fai grabbed his wrist. “You can’t. They’ll kill you.”
“They can try,” Kurogane said, grim-faced. “My grandfather killed a dragon. I’m not afraid to do the same.”
“They only want me,” Fai argued. “There’s no need for you to--”
“Shut up!” Kurogane snapped. “If you think I’m going to just let you get yourself killed while I hide in the palace you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.” He shrugged off Fai’s hand and continued to walk. “I’m going to bed now. You can do whatever you want, it’s no business of mine. But I’ll make the dragons regret it if they want to come after me or anyone in my care.” He glanced back at Fai. “And that includes you, you idiot.”
Without waiting for a reply Kurogane continued walking, leaving Fai staring wide-eyed behind him.
-
That night, Kurogane dreamed.
There was snow all around, coating the rocky ground and cutting through the gray sky. The clouds were low and heavy, the haze and snow making it difficult to see anything in the distance but the bulky indistinct shapes of other mountains.
In the midst of all this white sat Fai, curled in a ball of misery, his blue coat wrapped tightly around him like a protective shield. He was surrounded on all sides by bones. Some were large and very old, while others were smaller and still had bits of flesh or ragged remains of clothing stuck to them. His eyes were closed and there was a light dusting of snow covering him from head to toe, as if he hadn’t moved in a very long while.
A figure appeared on the horizon and Fai raised his head, blinking wearily as he shook the snow from his hair. The shape coalesced into the form of a man with long black hair, wearing dark blue robes and carrying a jar in one hand. There was a heavy sadness in his eyes.
“Have the dragons sent you to kill me too?” Fai’s voice was nothing but a thin whisper. He sounded very old and very tired.
“No.” The man shook his head. “I spoke with them, yes, so that they would allow me up here. But they aren’t the ones who sent me.”
“Then someone else sent you after me.” Fai lowered his head. “Why won’t any of you leave me be?”
“No one sent me.” The man stepped closer towards Fai, completely unafraid. “My name is Ashura. I had a dream about you.”
“A dream?” Fai looked up again, confused.
“Yes. A very sad dream.” He held out a hand to Fai. “What is your name?”
There was a long pause as Fai stared at the man’s hand as though it were some strange foreign object.
“Fai. My name is Fai.”
“Fai.” Ashura smiled at him and placed his outstretched hand gently on Fai’s head. “Something very painful has happened to you, hasn’t it?”
Fai didn’t answer, seeming to close in even more on himself.
“It was my fault.” His voice was muffled but clear. “It was all my fault. Why won’t everyone just leave me alone?”
“I can’t save you from that pain.” Ashura knelt down so that he was face to face with Fai. “But I can help you stay alive until you meet the one who can. Will you trust me?”
Fai stared into his eyes, looking like nothing so much as a lost and broken child desperate for comfort.
“Will you kill me?” he asked in a broken whisper. Ashura shook his head gently.
“That won’t free you,” he said softly. “Fai. Listen to me. Someday, you will find the person who will be able to do what even I cannot. Until then, all I can do for you is give you the strength to wait.” He held out the jar. “With my power I can seal you inside here. I promise you, you will feel no pain, no sorrow. It will only be a long, dreamless sleep.”
“Why would you do that for me?” Fai took hold of the jar almost reverently.
“Because you were in my dream,” Ashura said simply. “And when I dreamed of you I felt everything you were feeling. I want to do whatever is within my power to help you.”
Ashura stood then and offered Fai his hand once again.
“Will you let me do this for you?” Ashura asked him again. “Will you trust me?”
Though he was shaking, Fai reached up and took Ashura’s hand.
Kurogane’s eyes flashed open and he sat up with a jerk, breathing hard. He could still feel the cold mournful winds churning up around him, could still see Fai curled there in the snow. He was so busy shaking off the effects of the dream that he almost didn’t hear the sound of a door closing in the distance. Kurogane stared blankly at his own closed door for a moment before the significance of that sound hit him.
“That damn idiot!” Kurogane grabbed his sword and made for the door, not even bothering to put on his armor. Fai’s bed was empty, the sheets neatly folded and tucked away to one side. The clothes he had been wearing the night Kurogane had met him, the ones that had been lying untouched in the corner for days, were gone. Kurogane’s fist tightened over the hilt of his sword.
If Fai had decided to run, that would be one thing. But there was something stirring in the air, a strange prickling on the back of his neck and a tingling in his skin which told him that Fai had not run.
He quickly made his way out of the house, stepping out onto the beach. The sand was the same slate gray as the sky, with the rising sun only a faint light on the horizon and the falling moon barely seen through the dark clouds. The Sea Beyond was churning again, waves pounding against the sand despite the lack of wind. Fai had left no footprints to follow but even so Kurogane knew exactly where he had gone.
He was barely within sight of the Shrine when he finally saw them: dragons, everywhere, curled along the beach as far as the eye could see. They were of all types, all at least twice the height of a human or more, covered in rough scales of every color imaginable, with wicked claws and sharp white teeth. Their useless wings flexed along their backs as they stared down at the single small figure standing unbowed before them, his back to Kurogane.
Kurogane knew immediately that it was Fai. There were winds surrounding him and only him, causing his blue coat to billow out around him. Though the coat covered his back completely, the bird tattoo could still be seen glowing through the fabric. There was an aura about him that Kurogane recognized, the same one that had momentarily stopped him cold the night before. Fai’s head was raised, his stance imperial, and though he faced hundreds of dragons that towered above him something about the way he stood gave the impression that it was Fai who was looking down on them. He was speaking to the largest of the dragons, a grizzled-looking creature with cracked gray scales.
“Damn it all,” Kurogane growled through gritted teeth, stepping forward with sword drawn. He wasn’t going to let the idiot do this. He was not, could not, stand by and let this happen without a fight.
So intent was he on Fai that he nearly missed the dragon that suddenly darted out at him from seemingly nowhere, its claws flashing out as if it intended to slice him in two. Kurogane jumped back, his sword barely managing to parry the strike.
“No one must interfere.” The dragon’s voice was low and hard to understand, as if it was speaking through a mouth filled with gravel. Its yellow-green scales had a sickly sheen in the half light of morning. “Leave this place or die.”
“Just try it,” Kurogane snapped, sword raised. The dragon hissed and launched itself at him. It was faster than Kurogane had expected but he was still able to dodge it as he raised his sword again. It scraped uselessly against the dragon’s thick hide. The dragon gave a low, nasty laugh, tail lashing as it went for him again.
“Foolish human,” the dragon gurgled. “Thinks to defeat a dragon with men’s steel.”
“Shut up,” Kurogane snapped, his mind racing. He had heard the story many times as a child, the tale of how his grandfather defeated a dragon with only a sword. There had to be a way.
The dragon lunged at him once more. As Kurogane moved away from its claws it suddenly opened its mouth and let loose a blast of scalding white smoke that left Kurogane reeling, temporarily blinded. He backed up warily, sword still raised, trying his best to rely on his senses. A moment too late he dived out of the way, a spike of pain blossoming in his side as the dragon’s claws raked his arm. Kurogane backed up against a tree, blood dripping down his wounded arm and staining the sand below his feet. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision, stumbling clumsily out of the way as the dragon’s claws flashed out at him, slicing through the tree behind him as he moved. The dragon laughed again and Kurogane’s hands tightened on the hilt of his sword.
His grandfather had killed a dragon somehow. He had to remember. Kurogane parried the next strike of the claws with his sword, gritting his teeth as he was pushed back by the dragon’s overwhelming strength. In the back of his head he could hear his father’s voice telling the same story over and over again.
“Silly, useless human,” the dragon taunted. “So easy to kill.”
Kurogane smiled grimly. The dragon pressed harder against him and all of a sudden Kurogane fell backwards, letting the dragon’s claws slice the air uselessly above him as he rolled to his feet a few feet away. The dragon turned as Kurogane launched himself into the air, landing on its back. The dragon roared, wings flexing and tail lashing as it tried to shake him off. Kurogane barely kept his position, crouching low on its back as he stared hard at the back of the dragon’s neck.
There it was. Kurogane grabbed onto the one of the dragon’s wings with one hand to help his balance and then darted forward in a single movement, burying his sword deep in the vulnerable spot underneath the scales on the dragon’s neck.
The creature screamed, high and feral as red blood spurted from the wound, its entire body writhing in pain. Kurogane was suddenly thrown into the air, landing hard on his back in the sand, sword jarred from his hands. The dragon lumbered towards him, blood and froth dripping from its mouth, red eyes rolling wildly. It raised itself partially onto its back legs for a moment, mouth open wide, and then it collapsed into a pile of scales and blood on the sand.
Kurogane lay still for a moment, dazed, before dragging himself to his feet. His sword lay on the ground a few feet away, just out of reach, and he could still see Fai standing facing the dragons in the distance. They were clearly coming to some kind of agreement. Kurogane reached for his sword.
And then he was abruptly knocked to the ground, a heavy clawed foot pressing against his back. A brown dragon, larger than the previous one, stood above him, pushing him down into the sand.
“None must interfere,” it hissed.
“Shut…up…” Kurogane said through gritted teeth as he attempted to pull himself out from under the dragon’s foot. He stretched out his hand, trying to reach the sword only a few inches away. His fingers brushed against the hilt and he tried to drag himself forward just a little bit more. If he could only reach the sword…
Pain rocketed through him as the thick claws of a third dragon slammed down on his outstretched arm, claws digging into the flesh, blood pouring out onto the sand below. Kurogane couldn’t bite back a cry of pain as it curled its claws around the appendage and squeezed, bones shattering to pieces in its grip. He tried to move forward again, forcing himself to ignore the pain as he attempted to get to his feet, and the dragon holding him down pressed him deeper into the sand. Kurogane barely managed to raise his head, staring at Fai still standing alone in the sand just in front of the Shrine at World’s End.
As Kurogane watched helplessly, Fai reached up and pressed a hand against his eye. There was a flash of something gold and the winds around Fai rose like a small tornado as he held something out to the dragons with a hand clearly stained red with blood. The gray dragon reached out one clawed paw and took the golden thing from him, its mouth moving as if it were speaking, though all Kurogane could hear was a distant rumble like an earthquake. Fai took a step back, head bowed, and then spread his arms wide.
A sharp wind blew by Kurogane, cold like ice. All of the dragons suddenly raised their heads as one and roared in triumph. One by one they began to beat their wings, slowly at first, then faster and faster, the combined force of it sending sand flying in all directions and causing the Shrine at World’s End to lean dangerously to one side. The dragons holding Kurogane down began to beat their wings as they stepped back away from him, the sudden wind slamming Kurogane back down into the sand before he could even think to move. Somehow, through all of this, Fai remained standing upright.
One after another the dragons began to rise into the sky, higher and higher until they were nothing but dark clouds against the sky. Soon the only living dragon remaining on the beach was the old gray one, who was still staring down at Fai.
Even though Fai’s back was turned to him, Kurogane thought he saw the blond smile as the dragon raised its claws and struck him down.
Kurogane forced himself to his feet, his injured arm dangling uselessly at his side. He grabbed onto his sword with his one good hand as he stumbled weakly down the beach. The gray dragon stared down at Fai’s crumpled form for only a moment more and then took to the sky after its fellows. The only sign that the dragons had ever been at World’s End was the dead carcass still lying where it had fallen.
Kurogane’s legs gave out under him and he fell to the ground hard. Shaking off the weakness he forced himself to his feet once more and moved forward step by painful step, his ruined arm leaving a trail of red blood in the sand. As he reached the spot where Fai had fallen Kurogane all but fell to his knees beside him.
One of Fai’s eyes was gone, blood pouring from the empty socket. There was a deep gash that ran from his shoulder to his stomach and blood was pooling on the ground beneath him. In the back of his mind Kurogane heard Fai’s voice from that day in the library standing before the elaborate tapestry.
“Gods don’t bleed unless they’re dying.”
“You idiot,” Kurogane spat. “You idiot.”
“That’s...not nice, Kurogane,” Fai said weakly as he opened his single eye, the golden pupil glassy and clouded.
“What the hell did you think you were doing?” Kurogane wanted to shake him, wanted to hit him, wanted to do anything but sit there helplessly while Fai bled out in front of him.
“We made a deal,” Fai said, shaking with effort. His breath was coming in short struggling gasps. “I gave them what they wanted, and they agreed to let you go.”
“Who told you that was your decision to make?” Kurogane said in low dangerous tones. “Who the hell asked you to do anything like that for me? I told you, this was my fight too. Who the hell are you, to decide something like that?”
“I couldn’t do it again, Kurogane,” Fai murmured, as if in a trance. “I couldn’t lose something precious again. I couldn’t spend an eternity seeing you lying dead on the sand and knowing it was all my fault again.”
“Bastard,” Kurogane growled again. “Who says I would die that easily?”
“You think that because you’re Kurogane, and you can’t think any other way.” Fai’s hand reached up weakly to touch his. “I know better. There was no other way I could protect you but this.”
“I didn’t want your damn protection,” Kurogane said. Fai gave a laugh that ended in a wet cough. There was blood on his lips.
“I’m sorry,” Fai said in a strained whisper, his smile nothing but a thin ghost on his face.
His blood was sinking into the sand and all Kurogane could see was red.
Three circles of blood for the sacrifice. His father, one arm gone, a hole in his torso so deep the white of his ribs could be seen beneath as he dragged himself the last few steps to the Shrine with the offering in his only hand. His mother, collapsed in the sand at the foot of the Shrine, coughing blood from her mouth even as she drew the sacred signs.
Fai, bleeding out in his hands. One, two, three. Blood that was marked deep in the very soul of World’s End and never disappeared, that only faded. Wards that demanded blood from everyone eventually, be it demon, human or god. Kurogane’s fists clenched in anger.
Fai’s blood staining the sand, just another sacrifice to World’s End, and once again Kurogane was only a witness to it all. He closed his eyes.
“I will ask you the same question the man in my dream did, when the tale was finished. Why do you think the woman died?”
Kurogane’s eyes flashed open as Tomoyo’s voice echoed in his mind. Above him, he could see that the moon had finally dipped below the clouds and the sun was rising higher to meet it.
“When the time comes, the thing you’ll regret most is if you don’t do anything.”
Kurogane reached for his dropped sword.
“Kuro…gane…” Fai’s voice was weak and feverish.
“Shut up,” Kurogane said, grasping the sword with his good hand. Carefully he held it against one of the wounds on his broken arm, which was still bleeding sluggishly. As soon as the steel touched it the wound began to bleed anew, fresh blood dripping to the ground and mingling with Fai’s blood. Fai’s eye widened.
“No…don’t..” He batted weakly at Kurogane’s arm. “Kurogane…don’t…”
“If you weren’t in this bad a shape I would hit you right now,” Kurogane said darkly. “You want to be the hero and save my life? Fine. But I’m sure as hell not just going to stand by and watch you.” He held the bleeding arm inches in front of Fai’s face. “Drink.”
“No.” Fai turned his face away.
“It wasn’t a request,” Kurogane growled. “Drink.”
“You’ll die,” Fai said, struggling for each word.
“You don’t know that.”
“Kurogane, I can’t….”
“Shut up!” Kurogane was shaking with pain and anger. “I told you. I don’t die that easily.”
“But--”
“Trust me, damn it!” Kurogane snapped. “You don’t want to see anything precious to you taken away again, not if you could do something about it? Fine.” He looked Fai full in the face. “Neither do I.”
Fai stared at him for a long moment, wide-eyed and lost. Kurogane met his gaze evenly and finally, Fai smiled.
Kurogane held his arm out again, and Fai drank.
-
The sun shone in Kurogane’s eyes and he blinked drowsily as he sat up in bed. His wounds were still sore but he felt as if his strength was finally returning. He slowly stood, leaning briefly against the wall for support as he crossed the floor on bare feet. His injured arm had been bandaged and was held in a sling until the bones could heal, as he knew they would eventually.
The bones would heal, but Kurogane knew instinctively that he would never be able to move that arm again.
It would be a bother, certainly, getting used to the fact that what had once been a useful arm was now just dead meat attached to his shoulder. It would make performing his duties even tougher. But even so, given the choice again, Kurogane knew that he would make the same decision.
The adjoining room was empty and the front door had been left open, but Kurogane didn’t feel worried. He stepped outside into the sunshine and began to walk along the beach. The Sea Beyond was as quiet as usual and the sand shone all pinks and reds in the bright sunlight. There was only the mildest of winds blowing. It was a warm, natural wind from past the Sea, not the chill mountain winds that he remembered from the day before.
As he neared the Shrine he saw that the dead dragon was still lying upon the shore, a drooping mess of dried blood and old scales. Later on he would try and see if he could get any more blood out of it, for use the next time the wards grew weakened, but there was no need of that for now. The previous wards were still holding strongly and Kurogane was not in the mood to make any more sacrifices, not right now.
He found Fai right where he had expected the blond to be, standing near the Shrine at World’s End and staring down at the deep red blood stain in the sand. Wind and sand had already mostly covered up any traces of Kurogane’s blood but Fai’s remained deeply ingrained there, a wound so deep it left a permanent scar upon the land. Like the three circles of blood that were used to strengthen the wards Fai’s blood was etched deep in the very heart of World’s End now and Kurogane knew that the stain would likely remain there forever, to mark the spot where a god had died and a human had been born.
Fai was wearing the same blue furisode he had worn that first morning, the sleeves still torn from where the demon had caught him. He’d tied his blond hair back with a ribbon and his feet were bare. An eye patch covered the spot where his left eye had been. He looked up as Kurogane approached, his one good eye a clear bright blue in the morning light.
“Kuro-sama.” A smile worked its way onto his face, strained and thin but still genuine. “Shouldn’t you be in bed? Your wounds…”
“I’m fine,” Kurogane said shortly. “I could say the same about you.”
“They’ve all healed now,” Fai said. One hand pressed lightly against the eye patch. “All but this one, anyway. I don’t mind it.” His gaze lingered on Kurogane’s useless arm and a shadow passed over his features.
“Don’t say it,” Kurogane said warningly.
“You shouldn’t have done that for me,” Fai said. Kurogane gave a disgusted snort.
“Idiot. I told you not to say it. If it was something I’d regret, I would never have done it in the first place.”
“I suppose not.” Fai turned back to stare at the sea. “It still feels like my fault.”
“It’s not,” Kurogane said, annoyed. “And if it is, then your eye is my fault, right? So we’re even now.”
Fai gave a small laugh at that.
“I wanted to save you,” he said quietly. “That was all. Because I couldn’t save Fai.” He paused, pressing a hand against his chest. The gaping wound that had been there had healed without a trace. “It doesn’t hurt as much now. The memory is already fading little by little. It hurts, still…but it’s fading. Is this part of being human?”
“It is.”
“So now what do I do?” Fai turned back to face Kurogane, sun reflecting in his single blue eye.
“You move on, idiot,” Kurogane said without malice. “You start living your damn life already. Humans don’t have eternity, so we just have to live with where we are now instead of dwelling on stupid things from the past.”
“I guess that’s something I’ll have to get used to.” Fai looked back down at the sand for a long moment. “Kuro-sama…”
“What?”
“Most of my spiritual power is gone,” Fai murmured. “I have a little left, but it won’t be as effective as it was before. I won’t be able to be as much use to you as I’d like to be.” Fai shook his head. “If you want me to leave, I will. This time, I will.”
Kurogane raised his fist and pressed it against the back of Fai’s head, but there was no force behind it.
“Idiot. Do whatever you want.”
Fai looked back up at him, wide-eyed, and finally smiled.
“In that case, I guess I should go and make you breakfast!” Fai skipped past Kurogane. “What would you like, Kuro-rin? Something sweet?”
“Hell no,” Kurogane growled. “I can get my own breakfast.”
“But you’re injured,” Fai said, patting his head like he was trying to calm an irritated dog. “Don’t worry, Kuro-sama. I’ll take good care of you.”
“I don’t want your care,” Kurogane muttered. Despite his irritation he made no move to pull away when Fai grabbed his good wrist and began to drag him back towards the house.
A warm wind blew past and carried Fai’s answering laughter along behind it as they walked together along the shore at the end of the world.
Fandom: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
Rating: T
Pairings/Warnings: AU, KuroFai, Significant Capitalization
Summary: AU. Ever since the death of his parents, Kurogane has guarded the Shrine at World's End alone. Until the night he meets a particular stranger...
When Kurogane arrived back at World’s End the sky had already grown dark with clouds, nearly obscuring even the moon. There was no light to be seen anywhere save for the single candle shining in the window of his house. He knew immediately that the candle must have been placed there by Fai, and that its presence meant that Fai was still waiting there for him.
Part of him had wondered if Fai would be there when he got back or if the other man had decided to run off now that his secret had been revealed. The sight of the candle in the window made Kurogane feel suddenly relieved, even though he wasn’t really sure why. Certainly it would have made things easier for Kurogane, if the idiot had run off. If Fai had gone, after all, the dragons would likely follow him and the kingdom wouldn’t be in danger anymore, and Kurogane would finally have some peace and quiet. And even so, knowing all this, Kurogane couldn’t help but feel relieved.
All was quiet as Kurogane entered the house. At first Kurogane wondered if he had been mistaken, if Fai had truly left after all, and then the door to the next room open and Fai stepped out. As always there was a bright smile on his face, but his once-blue eyes glittered an unmistakable gold in the candlelight.
“I’m back,” Kurogane said shortly.
“You’re late,” Fai said, still unfailingly cheerful, the mask unbroken. “You let your dinner get cold, Kuro-rin.”
Kurogane felt a sudden spike of irritation.
“Don’t give me that crap,” he snapped. “The kid showed you the book, right? That’s why you ran off.”
“Did Syaoran-kun show you the story, too, Kuro-rin?” Fai looked away from him. “It wasn’t quite correct in that book, though. That’s how stories are, after all.” He paused and looked back at Kurogane, golden eyes seeming to almost glow in the darkness. “Would you like to hear the full story, Kuro-tan?”
“I’ve been hearing a lot of stories today,” Kurogane muttered. Fai laughed brightly.
“But this is a good one, Kuro-sama!” Fai’s gaze caught and held him, like a rabbit held by a falcon’s stare. “Once upon a time - it has to be once upon a time to be a good story, right? - there was a goddess of wind who stole a pretty gem from the dragons and used it to create two twin children. Their names were in the language of the wind that no one but gods can speak, but in the tongue of humans they were named Fai and Yuui.
“They lived on the peak of the highest mountain in the west, just the two of them and their mother. Eventually the goddess of the wind chose to leave her children, but before she did she gave them one command: ‘All the winds here will belong to you. But even so, you must never venture into the lower mountains. Stay here together at the mountain’s peak and you will always be safe.’”
A cold breeze blew past Kurogane’s face and the candlelight flickered slightly with the sudden winds.
“The two children lived in happiness for a long long time,” Fai continued, seemingly unaware of the mountain winds that were beginning to rise and swirl around him. “As long as they were together, it didn’t matter to them that their mother had gone or that they couldn’t leave the mountain’s peak. As long as they had each other, there was nothing more they could have wished for.”
Fai grew silent for a moment and the wind blew harder. Even so, when he spoke again Kurogane could hear his voice clearly.
“And then one day, Yuui disobeyed the only order their mother had given. He decided to descend into the mountains to explore, and that was where he met the dragon.
“At first, Yuui was curious. The first dragon he met was very large and very old, sleeping in a patch of sun. Yuui went up to it to get a closer look, and as he did its enormous eyes opened. Yuui ran away, but it was too late. The dragon had looked in his eyes and knew what treasure was hidden there.”
The winds began to howl and Kurogane found himself backed up against the wall. Still Fai’s calm voice could be heard as he continued to speak.
“From then on, Yuui went down into the mountains every day. At first he only watched the dragon from afar, but eventually he went up to it and spoke with it. He thought perhaps they could be friends. He didn’t know that the dragon wanted him to believe that, didn’t know that the dragon was biding his time until Yuui was comfortable enough to let down his guard so that he wouldn’t be fast enough to escape when the dragon finally chose to attack.
“One night, the dragon brought one of his treasures for Yuui to see and told Yuui that if he came down to the lowest caves the next morning the dragon would allow Yuui into his cave to see all his treasures. Yuui, all trusting, agreed. He returned to the mountain’s peak, but before he went to sleep that night he eagerly told Fai everything that had happened.”
The wind abruptly died to down to nothing. In the eerie silence left behind, all that could be heard was Fai’s trembling voice.
“The next morning, Fai awoke early. He was worried about the dragon, about Mother’s warning and about what could happen to Yuui. While Yuui was still asleep, Fai descended the mountain to where Yuui had promised to meet the dragon. And when he got there, hundreds of dragons were waiting for him.”
Fai was shaking all over now. Though he was still staring straight at Kurogane he didn’t seem to be seeing the other man at all.
“I woke up to find Fai gone. I looked all over for him, but I didn’t know where he’d disappeared to. Finally I went down the mountain, hoping he’d gone ahead to wait for me. It was when I finally reached the lowest caves that I found him. They’d torn out his eye, the eye that contained the treasure, but that wasn’t enough for them. They’d ripped him open completely and then just left him there bleeding.”
Fai took a shuddering breath that seemed to shake his whole body.
“He wasn’t quite dead when I found him. I had to stay there with him, had to watch him take his last breath, felt the winds around him die at the same moment he did. I waited there with him and held him and felt his blood on my hands, and then he died and I’m all alone, forever. And it’s all my fault, because it should have been me. I’m the one who broke Mother’s law. I’m the one who didn’t realize what the dragons were planning.”
He didn’t even seem to be talking to Kurogane now. Looking at him Kurogane had the wild thought that part of Fai wasn’t there at all, that part of him was still there on the frozen mountainside.
“They took something precious from me,” Fai continued, staring down at his own hands. “My most precious thing, and they took it. I can’t - I couldn’t let them go after that. They’d taken my precious thing, so I took theirs. I called the winds to me and placed a curse on every dragon in the mountains, on all those living and those yet to be born. No matter how hard they flap their wings, the winds will refuse to rise beneath them, will refuse to bear them up into the sky. That wind is mine. I won’t let them use it, ever again.”
“So you had your revenge.” As Kurogane spoke Fai’s head snapped up in surprise, as if he’d completely forgotten Kurogane was even there. “And that’s why you ended up sealed away.”
Fai gave him a smile that looked almost sickly in the candlelight.
“Something like that,” he said. “I went back to the mountain’s peak after that, but they wouldn’t just let me be alone. They kept coming after me. When I killed the ones that chased after me the dragons began to send all kinds priests and shrine maidens and people of spiritual power after me, and I killed all of them too. I’m a murderous rogue god, after all. Someone had to stop me.” His golden eyes flashed predatorily. “So you see, Kurogane, I really am a dangerous person.”
Kurogane raised an eyebrow at the use of his full name. Fai slowly crossed the floor towards him, a cold smile on his face. He raised his head, face inches from Kurogane’s, one hand resting on the hilt of Kurogane’s sword.
“So will you kill me, Kurogane?” Fai asked in low tones. “You’re supposed to protect the kingdom, after all. I’m the reason the dragons broke through the barrier, the reason they’re coming here. What will you do now?”
Kurogane stared at him, caught by those piercing golden eyes. It was true, what Fai was saying. His very presence endangered the kingdom. Furthermore, Fai had escaped from the Shrine at World’s End. As the current caretaker of the Shrine, it was Kurogane’s job to be sure that everything imprisoned inside remained imprisoned. Beyond that, it had been his negligence that had allowed Fai to escape in the first place and so it was Kurogane’s duty to rectify his own mistake. But with Fai staring at him like that, his eyes dangerous and his voice hopeless, Kurogane knew there was only one thing he could do.
He punched Fai across the head as hard as he could.
Taken by surprise, Fai tumbled forward and landed on his hands and knees on the floor. He stared up at Kurogane with wide confused eyes.
“Why the hell would I waste my time trying to kill an idiot like you?” Kurogane snapped. “The dragons took away someone you loved. Fine. You’ve had your revenge for thousands of years. Give the dragons what they want and then move on with your damn life.”
Fai started to laugh, but there was no humor in it.
“That’s what you would do, isn’t it Kurogane?” Fai’s smile was tight and painful. “When we talked about your parents, you said there was no point in dwelling on what you’d lost, that you had your own life to live.”
“That’s right,” Kurogane said shortly.
“You can say that because you’re human.” Fai looked at him and all of a sudden Kurogane felt a rush of pure power that left him unable to move, unable even to breathe. It was gone almost as soon as it came but for the first time Kurogane was truly aware of exactly what kind of power was sleeping inside Fai. “I’m a god. Gods have long lives and longer memories. When something happens to a human, no matter how painful, eventually they will start to forget. The pain will dull, the wound will scar. Gods aren’t like that. We remember everything clearly and we can’t forget things even if we want to.” He wrapped his arms around himself as if cold. “Every time I think about Fai, I’m back there again, kneeling on the ground with his blood on my hands. It doesn’t fade. It’s not just a memory like a human has. I’m there again, Kurogane. Every moment I remember it. No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to move past that moment. I’m always there in the snow with him. You said I’ve had my revenge for a thousand years? That’s like nothing to me, not when Fai is dying in my hands. Another thousand years will pass and I will still be there, do you understand? As long as Fai remains dead, I can’t remember him any other way. As long as Fai remains dead, I cannot move from that spot, even if I wanted to. That’s the curse that comes from being a god, you see. The painful things never scar over. That wound will always be bleeding out, forever.”
Kurogane stared down at him impassively and silence hung heavy between them.
“I was going to run,” Fai said at last, his voice only a whisper on the wind. “Before you got back. I was going to run the night I escaped the jar, while you slept. But the bath was warm and the bed was warm and I haven’t been warm in so long, I thought I might stay one more day. And it was just so much fun, being there with you, so I stayed another day, and another. I knew the dragons were coming for me. I knew you’d be in danger if I stayed too long, because if the dragons know that I’ve been set free then they know where I am, and who’s hiding me. Even if I ran now they wouldn’t just let you go. But I couldn’t just run without seeing you again. I couldn’t. And now it’s too late.” Fai suddenly stood, looking Kurogane in the face. “So you’ll have to, Kurogane. Go. Now. If I’m here on the beach when the dragons come, they won’t bother with you.”
“I don’t run,” Kurogane said coldly. “You should know better than to ask.”
“I can fight them here,” Fai argued. “This is where I was born, my powers are strongest here.”
“All of them?” Kurogane asked, unmoved. “I felt them when they broke the barrier. There are hundreds of dragons coming this way. You may be a god, but dragons can still kill you.”
“I’m not afraid,” Fai said. There was no trace of cheer in his expression now, only an old sadness that weighed him down like a chain.
“Neither am I.” Kurogane swept past him, hand on his sword. “I’m not leaving a moron like you alone. If you won’t give them what they want, we’ll just have to make them give up.”
“Kurogane!” Fai grabbed his wrist. “You can’t. They’ll kill you.”
“They can try,” Kurogane said, grim-faced. “My grandfather killed a dragon. I’m not afraid to do the same.”
“They only want me,” Fai argued. “There’s no need for you to--”
“Shut up!” Kurogane snapped. “If you think I’m going to just let you get yourself killed while I hide in the palace you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.” He shrugged off Fai’s hand and continued to walk. “I’m going to bed now. You can do whatever you want, it’s no business of mine. But I’ll make the dragons regret it if they want to come after me or anyone in my care.” He glanced back at Fai. “And that includes you, you idiot.”
Without waiting for a reply Kurogane continued walking, leaving Fai staring wide-eyed behind him.
-
That night, Kurogane dreamed.
There was snow all around, coating the rocky ground and cutting through the gray sky. The clouds were low and heavy, the haze and snow making it difficult to see anything in the distance but the bulky indistinct shapes of other mountains.
In the midst of all this white sat Fai, curled in a ball of misery, his blue coat wrapped tightly around him like a protective shield. He was surrounded on all sides by bones. Some were large and very old, while others were smaller and still had bits of flesh or ragged remains of clothing stuck to them. His eyes were closed and there was a light dusting of snow covering him from head to toe, as if he hadn’t moved in a very long while.
A figure appeared on the horizon and Fai raised his head, blinking wearily as he shook the snow from his hair. The shape coalesced into the form of a man with long black hair, wearing dark blue robes and carrying a jar in one hand. There was a heavy sadness in his eyes.
“Have the dragons sent you to kill me too?” Fai’s voice was nothing but a thin whisper. He sounded very old and very tired.
“No.” The man shook his head. “I spoke with them, yes, so that they would allow me up here. But they aren’t the ones who sent me.”
“Then someone else sent you after me.” Fai lowered his head. “Why won’t any of you leave me be?”
“No one sent me.” The man stepped closer towards Fai, completely unafraid. “My name is Ashura. I had a dream about you.”
“A dream?” Fai looked up again, confused.
“Yes. A very sad dream.” He held out a hand to Fai. “What is your name?”
There was a long pause as Fai stared at the man’s hand as though it were some strange foreign object.
“Fai. My name is Fai.”
“Fai.” Ashura smiled at him and placed his outstretched hand gently on Fai’s head. “Something very painful has happened to you, hasn’t it?”
Fai didn’t answer, seeming to close in even more on himself.
“It was my fault.” His voice was muffled but clear. “It was all my fault. Why won’t everyone just leave me alone?”
“I can’t save you from that pain.” Ashura knelt down so that he was face to face with Fai. “But I can help you stay alive until you meet the one who can. Will you trust me?”
Fai stared into his eyes, looking like nothing so much as a lost and broken child desperate for comfort.
“Will you kill me?” he asked in a broken whisper. Ashura shook his head gently.
“That won’t free you,” he said softly. “Fai. Listen to me. Someday, you will find the person who will be able to do what even I cannot. Until then, all I can do for you is give you the strength to wait.” He held out the jar. “With my power I can seal you inside here. I promise you, you will feel no pain, no sorrow. It will only be a long, dreamless sleep.”
“Why would you do that for me?” Fai took hold of the jar almost reverently.
“Because you were in my dream,” Ashura said simply. “And when I dreamed of you I felt everything you were feeling. I want to do whatever is within my power to help you.”
Ashura stood then and offered Fai his hand once again.
“Will you let me do this for you?” Ashura asked him again. “Will you trust me?”
Though he was shaking, Fai reached up and took Ashura’s hand.
Kurogane’s eyes flashed open and he sat up with a jerk, breathing hard. He could still feel the cold mournful winds churning up around him, could still see Fai curled there in the snow. He was so busy shaking off the effects of the dream that he almost didn’t hear the sound of a door closing in the distance. Kurogane stared blankly at his own closed door for a moment before the significance of that sound hit him.
“That damn idiot!” Kurogane grabbed his sword and made for the door, not even bothering to put on his armor. Fai’s bed was empty, the sheets neatly folded and tucked away to one side. The clothes he had been wearing the night Kurogane had met him, the ones that had been lying untouched in the corner for days, were gone. Kurogane’s fist tightened over the hilt of his sword.
If Fai had decided to run, that would be one thing. But there was something stirring in the air, a strange prickling on the back of his neck and a tingling in his skin which told him that Fai had not run.
He quickly made his way out of the house, stepping out onto the beach. The sand was the same slate gray as the sky, with the rising sun only a faint light on the horizon and the falling moon barely seen through the dark clouds. The Sea Beyond was churning again, waves pounding against the sand despite the lack of wind. Fai had left no footprints to follow but even so Kurogane knew exactly where he had gone.
He was barely within sight of the Shrine when he finally saw them: dragons, everywhere, curled along the beach as far as the eye could see. They were of all types, all at least twice the height of a human or more, covered in rough scales of every color imaginable, with wicked claws and sharp white teeth. Their useless wings flexed along their backs as they stared down at the single small figure standing unbowed before them, his back to Kurogane.
Kurogane knew immediately that it was Fai. There were winds surrounding him and only him, causing his blue coat to billow out around him. Though the coat covered his back completely, the bird tattoo could still be seen glowing through the fabric. There was an aura about him that Kurogane recognized, the same one that had momentarily stopped him cold the night before. Fai’s head was raised, his stance imperial, and though he faced hundreds of dragons that towered above him something about the way he stood gave the impression that it was Fai who was looking down on them. He was speaking to the largest of the dragons, a grizzled-looking creature with cracked gray scales.
“Damn it all,” Kurogane growled through gritted teeth, stepping forward with sword drawn. He wasn’t going to let the idiot do this. He was not, could not, stand by and let this happen without a fight.
So intent was he on Fai that he nearly missed the dragon that suddenly darted out at him from seemingly nowhere, its claws flashing out as if it intended to slice him in two. Kurogane jumped back, his sword barely managing to parry the strike.
“No one must interfere.” The dragon’s voice was low and hard to understand, as if it was speaking through a mouth filled with gravel. Its yellow-green scales had a sickly sheen in the half light of morning. “Leave this place or die.”
“Just try it,” Kurogane snapped, sword raised. The dragon hissed and launched itself at him. It was faster than Kurogane had expected but he was still able to dodge it as he raised his sword again. It scraped uselessly against the dragon’s thick hide. The dragon gave a low, nasty laugh, tail lashing as it went for him again.
“Foolish human,” the dragon gurgled. “Thinks to defeat a dragon with men’s steel.”
“Shut up,” Kurogane snapped, his mind racing. He had heard the story many times as a child, the tale of how his grandfather defeated a dragon with only a sword. There had to be a way.
The dragon lunged at him once more. As Kurogane moved away from its claws it suddenly opened its mouth and let loose a blast of scalding white smoke that left Kurogane reeling, temporarily blinded. He backed up warily, sword still raised, trying his best to rely on his senses. A moment too late he dived out of the way, a spike of pain blossoming in his side as the dragon’s claws raked his arm. Kurogane backed up against a tree, blood dripping down his wounded arm and staining the sand below his feet. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision, stumbling clumsily out of the way as the dragon’s claws flashed out at him, slicing through the tree behind him as he moved. The dragon laughed again and Kurogane’s hands tightened on the hilt of his sword.
His grandfather had killed a dragon somehow. He had to remember. Kurogane parried the next strike of the claws with his sword, gritting his teeth as he was pushed back by the dragon’s overwhelming strength. In the back of his head he could hear his father’s voice telling the same story over and over again.
“Silly, useless human,” the dragon taunted. “So easy to kill.”
Kurogane smiled grimly. The dragon pressed harder against him and all of a sudden Kurogane fell backwards, letting the dragon’s claws slice the air uselessly above him as he rolled to his feet a few feet away. The dragon turned as Kurogane launched himself into the air, landing on its back. The dragon roared, wings flexing and tail lashing as it tried to shake him off. Kurogane barely kept his position, crouching low on its back as he stared hard at the back of the dragon’s neck.
There it was. Kurogane grabbed onto the one of the dragon’s wings with one hand to help his balance and then darted forward in a single movement, burying his sword deep in the vulnerable spot underneath the scales on the dragon’s neck.
The creature screamed, high and feral as red blood spurted from the wound, its entire body writhing in pain. Kurogane was suddenly thrown into the air, landing hard on his back in the sand, sword jarred from his hands. The dragon lumbered towards him, blood and froth dripping from its mouth, red eyes rolling wildly. It raised itself partially onto its back legs for a moment, mouth open wide, and then it collapsed into a pile of scales and blood on the sand.
Kurogane lay still for a moment, dazed, before dragging himself to his feet. His sword lay on the ground a few feet away, just out of reach, and he could still see Fai standing facing the dragons in the distance. They were clearly coming to some kind of agreement. Kurogane reached for his sword.
And then he was abruptly knocked to the ground, a heavy clawed foot pressing against his back. A brown dragon, larger than the previous one, stood above him, pushing him down into the sand.
“None must interfere,” it hissed.
“Shut…up…” Kurogane said through gritted teeth as he attempted to pull himself out from under the dragon’s foot. He stretched out his hand, trying to reach the sword only a few inches away. His fingers brushed against the hilt and he tried to drag himself forward just a little bit more. If he could only reach the sword…
Pain rocketed through him as the thick claws of a third dragon slammed down on his outstretched arm, claws digging into the flesh, blood pouring out onto the sand below. Kurogane couldn’t bite back a cry of pain as it curled its claws around the appendage and squeezed, bones shattering to pieces in its grip. He tried to move forward again, forcing himself to ignore the pain as he attempted to get to his feet, and the dragon holding him down pressed him deeper into the sand. Kurogane barely managed to raise his head, staring at Fai still standing alone in the sand just in front of the Shrine at World’s End.
As Kurogane watched helplessly, Fai reached up and pressed a hand against his eye. There was a flash of something gold and the winds around Fai rose like a small tornado as he held something out to the dragons with a hand clearly stained red with blood. The gray dragon reached out one clawed paw and took the golden thing from him, its mouth moving as if it were speaking, though all Kurogane could hear was a distant rumble like an earthquake. Fai took a step back, head bowed, and then spread his arms wide.
A sharp wind blew by Kurogane, cold like ice. All of the dragons suddenly raised their heads as one and roared in triumph. One by one they began to beat their wings, slowly at first, then faster and faster, the combined force of it sending sand flying in all directions and causing the Shrine at World’s End to lean dangerously to one side. The dragons holding Kurogane down began to beat their wings as they stepped back away from him, the sudden wind slamming Kurogane back down into the sand before he could even think to move. Somehow, through all of this, Fai remained standing upright.
One after another the dragons began to rise into the sky, higher and higher until they were nothing but dark clouds against the sky. Soon the only living dragon remaining on the beach was the old gray one, who was still staring down at Fai.
Even though Fai’s back was turned to him, Kurogane thought he saw the blond smile as the dragon raised its claws and struck him down.
Kurogane forced himself to his feet, his injured arm dangling uselessly at his side. He grabbed onto his sword with his one good hand as he stumbled weakly down the beach. The gray dragon stared down at Fai’s crumpled form for only a moment more and then took to the sky after its fellows. The only sign that the dragons had ever been at World’s End was the dead carcass still lying where it had fallen.
Kurogane’s legs gave out under him and he fell to the ground hard. Shaking off the weakness he forced himself to his feet once more and moved forward step by painful step, his ruined arm leaving a trail of red blood in the sand. As he reached the spot where Fai had fallen Kurogane all but fell to his knees beside him.
One of Fai’s eyes was gone, blood pouring from the empty socket. There was a deep gash that ran from his shoulder to his stomach and blood was pooling on the ground beneath him. In the back of his mind Kurogane heard Fai’s voice from that day in the library standing before the elaborate tapestry.
“Gods don’t bleed unless they’re dying.”
“You idiot,” Kurogane spat. “You idiot.”
“That’s...not nice, Kurogane,” Fai said weakly as he opened his single eye, the golden pupil glassy and clouded.
“What the hell did you think you were doing?” Kurogane wanted to shake him, wanted to hit him, wanted to do anything but sit there helplessly while Fai bled out in front of him.
“We made a deal,” Fai said, shaking with effort. His breath was coming in short struggling gasps. “I gave them what they wanted, and they agreed to let you go.”
“Who told you that was your decision to make?” Kurogane said in low dangerous tones. “Who the hell asked you to do anything like that for me? I told you, this was my fight too. Who the hell are you, to decide something like that?”
“I couldn’t do it again, Kurogane,” Fai murmured, as if in a trance. “I couldn’t lose something precious again. I couldn’t spend an eternity seeing you lying dead on the sand and knowing it was all my fault again.”
“Bastard,” Kurogane growled again. “Who says I would die that easily?”
“You think that because you’re Kurogane, and you can’t think any other way.” Fai’s hand reached up weakly to touch his. “I know better. There was no other way I could protect you but this.”
“I didn’t want your damn protection,” Kurogane said. Fai gave a laugh that ended in a wet cough. There was blood on his lips.
“I’m sorry,” Fai said in a strained whisper, his smile nothing but a thin ghost on his face.
His blood was sinking into the sand and all Kurogane could see was red.
Three circles of blood for the sacrifice. His father, one arm gone, a hole in his torso so deep the white of his ribs could be seen beneath as he dragged himself the last few steps to the Shrine with the offering in his only hand. His mother, collapsed in the sand at the foot of the Shrine, coughing blood from her mouth even as she drew the sacred signs.
Fai, bleeding out in his hands. One, two, three. Blood that was marked deep in the very soul of World’s End and never disappeared, that only faded. Wards that demanded blood from everyone eventually, be it demon, human or god. Kurogane’s fists clenched in anger.
Fai’s blood staining the sand, just another sacrifice to World’s End, and once again Kurogane was only a witness to it all. He closed his eyes.
“I will ask you the same question the man in my dream did, when the tale was finished. Why do you think the woman died?”
Kurogane’s eyes flashed open as Tomoyo’s voice echoed in his mind. Above him, he could see that the moon had finally dipped below the clouds and the sun was rising higher to meet it.
“When the time comes, the thing you’ll regret most is if you don’t do anything.”
Kurogane reached for his dropped sword.
“Kuro…gane…” Fai’s voice was weak and feverish.
“Shut up,” Kurogane said, grasping the sword with his good hand. Carefully he held it against one of the wounds on his broken arm, which was still bleeding sluggishly. As soon as the steel touched it the wound began to bleed anew, fresh blood dripping to the ground and mingling with Fai’s blood. Fai’s eye widened.
“No…don’t..” He batted weakly at Kurogane’s arm. “Kurogane…don’t…”
“If you weren’t in this bad a shape I would hit you right now,” Kurogane said darkly. “You want to be the hero and save my life? Fine. But I’m sure as hell not just going to stand by and watch you.” He held the bleeding arm inches in front of Fai’s face. “Drink.”
“No.” Fai turned his face away.
“It wasn’t a request,” Kurogane growled. “Drink.”
“You’ll die,” Fai said, struggling for each word.
“You don’t know that.”
“Kurogane, I can’t….”
“Shut up!” Kurogane was shaking with pain and anger. “I told you. I don’t die that easily.”
“But--”
“Trust me, damn it!” Kurogane snapped. “You don’t want to see anything precious to you taken away again, not if you could do something about it? Fine.” He looked Fai full in the face. “Neither do I.”
Fai stared at him for a long moment, wide-eyed and lost. Kurogane met his gaze evenly and finally, Fai smiled.
Kurogane held his arm out again, and Fai drank.
-
The sun shone in Kurogane’s eyes and he blinked drowsily as he sat up in bed. His wounds were still sore but he felt as if his strength was finally returning. He slowly stood, leaning briefly against the wall for support as he crossed the floor on bare feet. His injured arm had been bandaged and was held in a sling until the bones could heal, as he knew they would eventually.
The bones would heal, but Kurogane knew instinctively that he would never be able to move that arm again.
It would be a bother, certainly, getting used to the fact that what had once been a useful arm was now just dead meat attached to his shoulder. It would make performing his duties even tougher. But even so, given the choice again, Kurogane knew that he would make the same decision.
The adjoining room was empty and the front door had been left open, but Kurogane didn’t feel worried. He stepped outside into the sunshine and began to walk along the beach. The Sea Beyond was as quiet as usual and the sand shone all pinks and reds in the bright sunlight. There was only the mildest of winds blowing. It was a warm, natural wind from past the Sea, not the chill mountain winds that he remembered from the day before.
As he neared the Shrine he saw that the dead dragon was still lying upon the shore, a drooping mess of dried blood and old scales. Later on he would try and see if he could get any more blood out of it, for use the next time the wards grew weakened, but there was no need of that for now. The previous wards were still holding strongly and Kurogane was not in the mood to make any more sacrifices, not right now.
He found Fai right where he had expected the blond to be, standing near the Shrine at World’s End and staring down at the deep red blood stain in the sand. Wind and sand had already mostly covered up any traces of Kurogane’s blood but Fai’s remained deeply ingrained there, a wound so deep it left a permanent scar upon the land. Like the three circles of blood that were used to strengthen the wards Fai’s blood was etched deep in the very heart of World’s End now and Kurogane knew that the stain would likely remain there forever, to mark the spot where a god had died and a human had been born.
Fai was wearing the same blue furisode he had worn that first morning, the sleeves still torn from where the demon had caught him. He’d tied his blond hair back with a ribbon and his feet were bare. An eye patch covered the spot where his left eye had been. He looked up as Kurogane approached, his one good eye a clear bright blue in the morning light.
“Kuro-sama.” A smile worked its way onto his face, strained and thin but still genuine. “Shouldn’t you be in bed? Your wounds…”
“I’m fine,” Kurogane said shortly. “I could say the same about you.”
“They’ve all healed now,” Fai said. One hand pressed lightly against the eye patch. “All but this one, anyway. I don’t mind it.” His gaze lingered on Kurogane’s useless arm and a shadow passed over his features.
“Don’t say it,” Kurogane said warningly.
“You shouldn’t have done that for me,” Fai said. Kurogane gave a disgusted snort.
“Idiot. I told you not to say it. If it was something I’d regret, I would never have done it in the first place.”
“I suppose not.” Fai turned back to stare at the sea. “It still feels like my fault.”
“It’s not,” Kurogane said, annoyed. “And if it is, then your eye is my fault, right? So we’re even now.”
Fai gave a small laugh at that.
“I wanted to save you,” he said quietly. “That was all. Because I couldn’t save Fai.” He paused, pressing a hand against his chest. The gaping wound that had been there had healed without a trace. “It doesn’t hurt as much now. The memory is already fading little by little. It hurts, still…but it’s fading. Is this part of being human?”
“It is.”
“So now what do I do?” Fai turned back to face Kurogane, sun reflecting in his single blue eye.
“You move on, idiot,” Kurogane said without malice. “You start living your damn life already. Humans don’t have eternity, so we just have to live with where we are now instead of dwelling on stupid things from the past.”
“I guess that’s something I’ll have to get used to.” Fai looked back down at the sand for a long moment. “Kuro-sama…”
“What?”
“Most of my spiritual power is gone,” Fai murmured. “I have a little left, but it won’t be as effective as it was before. I won’t be able to be as much use to you as I’d like to be.” Fai shook his head. “If you want me to leave, I will. This time, I will.”
Kurogane raised his fist and pressed it against the back of Fai’s head, but there was no force behind it.
“Idiot. Do whatever you want.”
Fai looked back up at him, wide-eyed, and finally smiled.
“In that case, I guess I should go and make you breakfast!” Fai skipped past Kurogane. “What would you like, Kuro-rin? Something sweet?”
“Hell no,” Kurogane growled. “I can get my own breakfast.”
“But you’re injured,” Fai said, patting his head like he was trying to calm an irritated dog. “Don’t worry, Kuro-sama. I’ll take good care of you.”
“I don’t want your care,” Kurogane muttered. Despite his irritation he made no move to pull away when Fai grabbed his good wrist and began to drag him back towards the house.
A warm wind blew past and carried Fai’s answering laughter along behind it as they walked together along the shore at the end of the world.