Wonderland's End [1/??]
I've decided I'm going to post this in parts as it comes along. I honestly haven't the slightest clue how long it's going to be; I *do* at least have a (...very vague) idea of where I'm going with it. Sorta. Um, we'll see. Right. After I finish I'm gonna go back and edit it all, so consider this something of a rough draft.
Title: Wonderland's End
Chapter: 1/??
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Pairing: Doumeki Shizuka/Watanuki Kimihiro
Rating: PG
Summary: It didn't matter where he was; saving Watanuki was simply what he did.
Dedicated to Dibutt, who asked for it, with all the love in my bosom. ♥
Feedback is loved, but please ignore the typos. Rough draft, remember.
- Wonderland's End -
“You don’t smile much, do you Shizuka?”
Doumeki looked up from his book into the kind eyes of his grandfather and frowned a little deeper. “Yes I do.”
“Oh? Let’s see one, then.”
Doumeki fidgeted uncomfortably. “Not right now.”
At that, his grandfather laughed, loud and warm, and Doumeki scowled as he was patted on the head.
“I suppose you get this seriousness from your father,” Doumeki Haruka’s eyes were faintly sad as he gazed upon his grandson.
Doumeki scowled at that, too. Sure, he loved his father, but he didn’t really like it when they were compared. Tou-san was always so strict, so mean . . . unlike oji-san, who let him read whatever books he wanted, talked to him about spirits and other cool things, and never yelled when he caught Doumeki skiving off his chores. Unfortunately, the only thing Doumeki seemed to have inherited from his grandfather were his looks.
And the temple as well, supposedly, but Doumeki didn’t want that. That would mean oji-san had become a spirit himself.
As he often did, his grandfather picked up on his thoughts.
“Don’t worry so much, Shizuka. You're much more like me than you think. Someday, you’ll be able to see the spirits.”
“But why can’t tou-san see them?” The one time Doumeki had tried to ask his father about it, his father had slapped him and told him to “pray he never sees them either.” Doumeki would never pray for such a thing, though.
“Because he sees with only two eyes.”
Doumeki’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? Do you have more than two?”
His grandfather chuckled warmly. “There is seeing, Shizuka, and there is seeing. The third eye isn’t something you can see on a person like these two here.” He pointed to his eyes and made a bit of a silly face, but Doumeki didn’t smile a notch. The man shrugged with a sigh and continued. “Everyone has the third eye, but few possess the ability to open it.”
“How do you open it? I want to see the spirits too!”
“I’m not the one who can tell you how to do that, Shizuka,” his grandfather said kindly, and patted his head. “And you should know, that seeing with the third eye can often be a curse, as well as a blessing. Remember that.”
Doumeki was always serious when it came to spirits. “I will, oji-san. But who will show me how to open my third eye?”
Doumeki Haruka’s eyes glazed over slightly as he looked off into the distance. Doumeki got a chill so fierce he shook with it. He hated when oji-san got that look on his face. It was like he wasn’t even there.
“Someday, there will be someone who can See. It will be in your blood to protect this person, and once you find them, you will never want to leave their side.”
“Will this person show me how to see with the third eye?” Doumeki asked tentatively, afraid of disturbing his grandfather’s odd state of mind. After a full minute, there was no answer, so Doumeki pressed on. “Is that why I’ll protect them?” He was familiar with the idea of balance; to be given something, you must give in return. “So they’ll show me?”
His grandfather turned to him, and some of the haze seemed to gone from his eyes as he gave his grandson a wide smile.
“You will protect him because he will be the one who matters the most.”
---
Doumeki held his left hand over his left eye and Saw.
Snow whipped around like lightning, a twisting, twirling snake of freezing cold. Through the torrents of white he could make out trees; great, terrifying trees of dark cherry wood spouting massive gnarled branches, making them both breathtaking and horrible.
Fear lurched into his gut, toppling him to his knees. Doumeki recognized the particular feeling of fear and it made him want to scream with how unbearably awful it was. He’d felt it one or two times before, this fear, which is why he recognized it - it wasn’t his own.
There - he could see what it was that caused the fear. In the distance. It was blurry, and the snow storm made it even harder to make out. Snowflakes blew into his eyes, blocking his vision, and when he tried to wipe it away, he realized they weren’t there; instead, goodness knows how far away, they caught and froze onto Watanuki’s glasses.
“What do you see?” A voice asked him, and Doumeki cursed under his breath.
“Snow.”
“What else?”
“Just . . . just snow. Like a blizzard. And there are trees, huge ones.”
“Can you see the sky?”
“No.”
“Is it night or day?”
It took Doumeki a moment to figure it out. “I think it’s night. Yes. It’s dark out.”
“Anything else?”
“There’s something . . . I can’t tell what it is. It might be a person.”
“Male or female?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does it look human?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you tell me anything about them?”
“No, dammit!” Doumeki could feel Watanuki shake with fear, and then it was over.
Yuuko was kneeling before him, his left wrist in her hand, pulled away from his face. A few moments of shifting lights, spots in front of his eyes, and then he could see normally.
“He’s terrified,” he said gravely and stood up. He wavered a bit on his feet until he’d reoriented himself. He realized that too much of Watanuki’s emotions had seeped into him; for a moment, he’d actually snapped at Yuuko.
“I apolo-”
“Don’t apologize,” Yuuko interrupted him. She was now pacing back and forth across her porch. The door was wide open - it was summertime, here - and Maru and Moro huddled behind either side of the opened door, faces frail and frightened.
Doumeki leaned against the house, crossed his arms, and breathed deeply. Even though Watanuki’s emotions had melted away, a fear still knotted at his stomach. At least this one was his own.
“Do you know where he is?” he asked her.
Yuuko didn’t pause in her strides, although it took her a moment to answer. “Yes.”
Doumeki blinked. He knew there must be something holding her back from leaving right now dammit, he’s afraid and he needs to be saved, doesn’t she realize, but her vagueness in this instance was making his skin itch with impatience. Or maybe that was still a residue of Watanuki.
“Where?” he asked simply.
Yuuko stopped, inhaled deeply, then flopped down onto her rear as she exhaled loudly. “Someplace I can’t go.”
“Some sort of spiritual plane?”
“No,” Yuuko gave another heavy sigh. “If it was, I could go. He’s in another world.”
Doumeki’s eyes narrowed. “In another dimension, you mean?”
“You could call it that.”
“Why can’t you-”
“The answer to that question will cost you quite a bit, I have to warn you.”
Doumeki cursed inwardly, but tactfully showed no emotion on his face. “I see. And how much will it cost me for you to send me to this world?”
Yuuko regarded him for a minute, eyes shrewd and lips turned downward in an uncharacteristic frown. “You want to save him?”
“Yes.” Of course. Why was she even asking? She knew as well as him that when it came to Watanuki, it wasn’t so much a matter of wanting, as something that burned inexplicably in his blood. Inexplicable, mainly because Watanuki was quite possibly the most irritating person Doumeki had ever met.
“So once again, Doumeki desires the part of the dashing young prince?” Yuuko mused with a knowing smirk.
Doumeki said nothing, not even deigning to blink.
Yuuko rose to her feet as her expression turned serious once again. “Very well. I will send you.” She retreated into her house, and Doumeki followed at a distance.
“The price?”
“We can discuss the price after you’ve returned.”
That made Doumeki falter somewhat in his resolution. Not only was it odd for her to be elusive when it came to payment, it almost sounded like she was implying that he would return alone.
Still, the burning in his blood, like a fire in his veins both soothing and invigorating, ran through him like lava. He wouldn’t be perturbed.
“Tell me what to do.”
---
He didn’t know where he was, and he hadn’t the faintest clue as to how he had gotten here. All he knew was that it was cold.
Compared to that, everything else seemed momentarily inconsequential. The howl of wind in his ears that was a bit too loud to be just the wind. The dark forest of black trees illuminated by the white of the snow that seemed to be closing in around him. The fact that his right shoulder smarted with caustic pain. The way the snow clung to his glasses, melting on contact and then freezing the very same instant, creating a thin shield of ice. All he felt was the cold, so sharp and intense it felt like being burned.
And then he saw the figure, and cold gave way to terror so deep it made him shake. He couldn’t see through his glasses, so he tried to take them off, but all he could do was freeze with his hand halfway towards his face. He looked over the top rim, and the blur was even worse. Then it occurred to him to close his left eye, since he could see better with his right - Doumeki's right eye, he thought for one sardonic moment. He closed his left eye, saw with his right, and screamed.
He didn’t think; he rose to his feet, and even though his body felt frozen stiff, he turned and ran. He ran through the forest with great leaping steps, narrowly avoiding trees and branches and shrubs, tripping over roots but never quite falling, running with a speed that was almost inhuman. At some point, he realized he’d lost his glasses, but immediately decided it didn’t matter.
He ran and ran, and then, suddenly, there was a cabin, or more like a shack, right smack in the middle of the forest, dark and desolate and, all things considered, highly suspicious. He didn’t think twice; he dashed forward, threw the door open, and slammed it shut behind him in the time it took for his racing heart to beat once.
He’d only managed to bar the door shut with a handy iron bar when the force with which the pursuer slammed against it shook the very foundation of the shack. Watanuki cried out in fear, turned around, and saw through fearful and blurry eyes what awaited him inside.
And he wondered if he hadn’t stood a better chance outside. Although this one, at least, was somewhat smaller.
He wasn’t sure whether to feel reassured or more afraid when the thing gave him a wide grin, revealing a set of the sharpest teeth Watanuki had ever seen.
When he was trying to decide which to feel, however, he began to feel something very different. His own special brand of spiritual nausea overtook him as the pounding against the shack’s door continued relentlessly, making his surroundings tremble. He fell to his knees and covered his mouth with his hand, but it was no use; he was sick onto the floor, and he knew he was doomed.
The thing, whatever it was, moved past him and let out a wordless, animalistic cry loud enough to resonate deep within Watanuki’s ears. His eardrums vibrated, and it was the last straw for his body; Watanuki fell forward and blacked out against the cold hardwood floor.
---
to be continued
Title: Wonderland's End
Chapter: 1/??
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Pairing: Doumeki Shizuka/Watanuki Kimihiro
Rating: PG
Summary: It didn't matter where he was; saving Watanuki was simply what he did.
Dedicated to Dibutt, who asked for it, with all the love in my bosom. ♥
Feedback is loved, but please ignore the typos. Rough draft, remember.
- Wonderland's End -
“You don’t smile much, do you Shizuka?”
Doumeki looked up from his book into the kind eyes of his grandfather and frowned a little deeper. “Yes I do.”
“Oh? Let’s see one, then.”
Doumeki fidgeted uncomfortably. “Not right now.”
At that, his grandfather laughed, loud and warm, and Doumeki scowled as he was patted on the head.
“I suppose you get this seriousness from your father,” Doumeki Haruka’s eyes were faintly sad as he gazed upon his grandson.
Doumeki scowled at that, too. Sure, he loved his father, but he didn’t really like it when they were compared. Tou-san was always so strict, so mean . . . unlike oji-san, who let him read whatever books he wanted, talked to him about spirits and other cool things, and never yelled when he caught Doumeki skiving off his chores. Unfortunately, the only thing Doumeki seemed to have inherited from his grandfather were his looks.
And the temple as well, supposedly, but Doumeki didn’t want that. That would mean oji-san had become a spirit himself.
As he often did, his grandfather picked up on his thoughts.
“Don’t worry so much, Shizuka. You're much more like me than you think. Someday, you’ll be able to see the spirits.”
“But why can’t tou-san see them?” The one time Doumeki had tried to ask his father about it, his father had slapped him and told him to “pray he never sees them either.” Doumeki would never pray for such a thing, though.
“Because he sees with only two eyes.”
Doumeki’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? Do you have more than two?”
His grandfather chuckled warmly. “There is seeing, Shizuka, and there is seeing. The third eye isn’t something you can see on a person like these two here.” He pointed to his eyes and made a bit of a silly face, but Doumeki didn’t smile a notch. The man shrugged with a sigh and continued. “Everyone has the third eye, but few possess the ability to open it.”
“How do you open it? I want to see the spirits too!”
“I’m not the one who can tell you how to do that, Shizuka,” his grandfather said kindly, and patted his head. “And you should know, that seeing with the third eye can often be a curse, as well as a blessing. Remember that.”
Doumeki was always serious when it came to spirits. “I will, oji-san. But who will show me how to open my third eye?”
Doumeki Haruka’s eyes glazed over slightly as he looked off into the distance. Doumeki got a chill so fierce he shook with it. He hated when oji-san got that look on his face. It was like he wasn’t even there.
“Someday, there will be someone who can See. It will be in your blood to protect this person, and once you find them, you will never want to leave their side.”
“Will this person show me how to see with the third eye?” Doumeki asked tentatively, afraid of disturbing his grandfather’s odd state of mind. After a full minute, there was no answer, so Doumeki pressed on. “Is that why I’ll protect them?” He was familiar with the idea of balance; to be given something, you must give in return. “So they’ll show me?”
His grandfather turned to him, and some of the haze seemed to gone from his eyes as he gave his grandson a wide smile.
“You will protect him because he will be the one who matters the most.”
---
Doumeki held his left hand over his left eye and Saw.
Snow whipped around like lightning, a twisting, twirling snake of freezing cold. Through the torrents of white he could make out trees; great, terrifying trees of dark cherry wood spouting massive gnarled branches, making them both breathtaking and horrible.
Fear lurched into his gut, toppling him to his knees. Doumeki recognized the particular feeling of fear and it made him want to scream with how unbearably awful it was. He’d felt it one or two times before, this fear, which is why he recognized it - it wasn’t his own.
There - he could see what it was that caused the fear. In the distance. It was blurry, and the snow storm made it even harder to make out. Snowflakes blew into his eyes, blocking his vision, and when he tried to wipe it away, he realized they weren’t there; instead, goodness knows how far away, they caught and froze onto Watanuki’s glasses.
“What do you see?” A voice asked him, and Doumeki cursed under his breath.
“Snow.”
“What else?”
“Just . . . just snow. Like a blizzard. And there are trees, huge ones.”
“Can you see the sky?”
“No.”
“Is it night or day?”
It took Doumeki a moment to figure it out. “I think it’s night. Yes. It’s dark out.”
“Anything else?”
“There’s something . . . I can’t tell what it is. It might be a person.”
“Male or female?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does it look human?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you tell me anything about them?”
“No, dammit!” Doumeki could feel Watanuki shake with fear, and then it was over.
Yuuko was kneeling before him, his left wrist in her hand, pulled away from his face. A few moments of shifting lights, spots in front of his eyes, and then he could see normally.
“He’s terrified,” he said gravely and stood up. He wavered a bit on his feet until he’d reoriented himself. He realized that too much of Watanuki’s emotions had seeped into him; for a moment, he’d actually snapped at Yuuko.
“I apolo-”
“Don’t apologize,” Yuuko interrupted him. She was now pacing back and forth across her porch. The door was wide open - it was summertime, here - and Maru and Moro huddled behind either side of the opened door, faces frail and frightened.
Doumeki leaned against the house, crossed his arms, and breathed deeply. Even though Watanuki’s emotions had melted away, a fear still knotted at his stomach. At least this one was his own.
“Do you know where he is?” he asked her.
Yuuko didn’t pause in her strides, although it took her a moment to answer. “Yes.”
Doumeki blinked. He knew there must be something holding her back from leaving right now dammit, he’s afraid and he needs to be saved, doesn’t she realize, but her vagueness in this instance was making his skin itch with impatience. Or maybe that was still a residue of Watanuki.
“Where?” he asked simply.
Yuuko stopped, inhaled deeply, then flopped down onto her rear as she exhaled loudly. “Someplace I can’t go.”
“Some sort of spiritual plane?”
“No,” Yuuko gave another heavy sigh. “If it was, I could go. He’s in another world.”
Doumeki’s eyes narrowed. “In another dimension, you mean?”
“You could call it that.”
“Why can’t you-”
“The answer to that question will cost you quite a bit, I have to warn you.”
Doumeki cursed inwardly, but tactfully showed no emotion on his face. “I see. And how much will it cost me for you to send me to this world?”
Yuuko regarded him for a minute, eyes shrewd and lips turned downward in an uncharacteristic frown. “You want to save him?”
“Yes.” Of course. Why was she even asking? She knew as well as him that when it came to Watanuki, it wasn’t so much a matter of wanting, as something that burned inexplicably in his blood. Inexplicable, mainly because Watanuki was quite possibly the most irritating person Doumeki had ever met.
“So once again, Doumeki desires the part of the dashing young prince?” Yuuko mused with a knowing smirk.
Doumeki said nothing, not even deigning to blink.
Yuuko rose to her feet as her expression turned serious once again. “Very well. I will send you.” She retreated into her house, and Doumeki followed at a distance.
“The price?”
“We can discuss the price after you’ve returned.”
That made Doumeki falter somewhat in his resolution. Not only was it odd for her to be elusive when it came to payment, it almost sounded like she was implying that he would return alone.
Still, the burning in his blood, like a fire in his veins both soothing and invigorating, ran through him like lava. He wouldn’t be perturbed.
“Tell me what to do.”
---
He didn’t know where he was, and he hadn’t the faintest clue as to how he had gotten here. All he knew was that it was cold.
Compared to that, everything else seemed momentarily inconsequential. The howl of wind in his ears that was a bit too loud to be just the wind. The dark forest of black trees illuminated by the white of the snow that seemed to be closing in around him. The fact that his right shoulder smarted with caustic pain. The way the snow clung to his glasses, melting on contact and then freezing the very same instant, creating a thin shield of ice. All he felt was the cold, so sharp and intense it felt like being burned.
And then he saw the figure, and cold gave way to terror so deep it made him shake. He couldn’t see through his glasses, so he tried to take them off, but all he could do was freeze with his hand halfway towards his face. He looked over the top rim, and the blur was even worse. Then it occurred to him to close his left eye, since he could see better with his right - Doumeki's right eye, he thought for one sardonic moment. He closed his left eye, saw with his right, and screamed.
He didn’t think; he rose to his feet, and even though his body felt frozen stiff, he turned and ran. He ran through the forest with great leaping steps, narrowly avoiding trees and branches and shrubs, tripping over roots but never quite falling, running with a speed that was almost inhuman. At some point, he realized he’d lost his glasses, but immediately decided it didn’t matter.
He ran and ran, and then, suddenly, there was a cabin, or more like a shack, right smack in the middle of the forest, dark and desolate and, all things considered, highly suspicious. He didn’t think twice; he dashed forward, threw the door open, and slammed it shut behind him in the time it took for his racing heart to beat once.
He’d only managed to bar the door shut with a handy iron bar when the force with which the pursuer slammed against it shook the very foundation of the shack. Watanuki cried out in fear, turned around, and saw through fearful and blurry eyes what awaited him inside.
And he wondered if he hadn’t stood a better chance outside. Although this one, at least, was somewhat smaller.
He wasn’t sure whether to feel reassured or more afraid when the thing gave him a wide grin, revealing a set of the sharpest teeth Watanuki had ever seen.
When he was trying to decide which to feel, however, he began to feel something very different. His own special brand of spiritual nausea overtook him as the pounding against the shack’s door continued relentlessly, making his surroundings tremble. He fell to his knees and covered his mouth with his hand, but it was no use; he was sick onto the floor, and he knew he was doomed.
The thing, whatever it was, moved past him and let out a wordless, animalistic cry loud enough to resonate deep within Watanuki’s ears. His eardrums vibrated, and it was the last straw for his body; Watanuki fell forward and blacked out against the cold hardwood floor.
---
to be continued