Nov.8 Samui…
Assassin-General: A
special kind of commander that exists in the Black Dragon’s armies. Basically an assassin with leadership skills
and stuff is promoted to also holding a high leading position in the army. Such a position utilizes both the person’s
skills as an assassin and a leader. Do
not get this rank confused with the rank of a normal general; the two are very
different. Assassin-Generals usually
hold positions of great power. Skai was
one of two Assassin-Generals who were second only to the Black Dragon himself.
Black Dragon, the: A
warlord, controls armies in a parallel semi-medieval universe, is like a mafia
kinda guy in this world. Sort of an
ultimate evil…Natural form is a big nasty dragon-serpent thing but he can
possess humans and use them as a host.
Skai’s father was the Black Dragon’s host for a number of years before
Skai was forced to kill him in order to free him.
Darkchild: A more
arcane and true name for the Black Dragon.
Gate: Weird
portal thing. It provides nearly
instantaneous transportation to almost anywhere. Is pretty much the only way to get between parallel dimensions,
but isn’t used that way in this story.
It’s just used to go different places in our world.
Kuro: Black or
dark in Japanese. No, I’m not creative
enough to make up an original language right now.
Samui: Cold, in
Japanese. A working title okay….
Nori, nori, nori: No, you will not find this in the story,
but it is the only song I listened to for about 5 hours while typing the latter
half of this story. Yes I am feeling
strange. The song is by Judy Crystal I
think, I am listening to it because I like to play this song in a dance video
game. Yes, I’m sure that is vital
information. No I did not listen to ANY
other songs. Just that one. Over and over and over… Why? Because I felt
like it. As far as I know, the title
means Seaweed Seaweed Seaweed in Japanese.
However I think it is safer to assume that Nori is someone’s name in this
case. I will stop typing now.
I know I’ve forgotten something…
Oh…I didn’t quite know how to fit some parts into the story…I wasn’t sure whether you as the reader were supposed to know about this stuff yet. But maybe I should explain some stuff. Who cares if I later decide that you aren’t supposed to know yet. Frost was never really born. She just came into existence when she should have been in her teens or maybe pre-teens. This happened because there was a problem with someone’s soul being reborn. It had been split into more than one piece and although one part was reborn successfully. (Into Aria actually) The leftovers just kind of coalesced into a human form at whatever stage of growth pleased them. Which happened to be teens/preteens. Haven’t decided yet. So anyways, voila, Frost is “born”. You should figure out whose soul it was by the end of the story. The remains of the original owner of the soul lives in Frost’s subconscious mind. *big hint*
Frost smiled to herself as she
applied her blue lipstick. Another day,
another job. She was a bounty hunter of
sorts…a tool for bringing back live targets.
Targets being the human beings that she hunted. Her shoulder-length white hair had a bluish
tint to it, and shone silver when the light hit it…one of the reasons she was
known as Frost. The other reasons were
due to her personality more than her looks.
The young woman, for she could not be called a woman really, she had too
much of a childish look about her. Not
innocent, but still childish. The young
woman had piercing pale blue eyes the color of arctic ice and those eyes
betrayed no emotion whatsoever as she listened to her phone messages. Most of the messages were requests for her
services, she was one of the best after all, but one request stood out from the
rest. It was by far more attractive
than the others were, after all it was put out to her personally by the Black
Dragon. The Black Dragon was a powerful
warlord…a crime boss of sorts that was powerful and rich to boot. Frost threw on a worn jean jacket and left
her apartment. She would go see this
Black Dragon and see what he wanted, that was the one thing not included in the
message and she was curious. She didn’t
know the warlord personally, only by reputation…and the Black Dragon certainly
had a good reputation. The deal was a
sweet one already, a large sum of money both before and after she acquired the
target, accessories and expenses all paid for, but the reputation points she
would earn by working for the Black Dragon would top it all off nicely. She could end up getting a lot out of this
mission…if she took it.
* * *
When Frost arrived at the
specified meeting place, a lackey was already waiting for her. He took her to the Black Dragon with a lot
of fussing and secrecy. She was never
actually allowed to see the Black
Dragon, but she did speak to him. He
outlined the parameters of the mission for her and she listened silently. There was a runaway Assassin-General of his
that he desperately wanted back in his service. Frost didn’t ask why, that was not something bounty hunters
did. However she did ask questions
about the Assassin-General and the mission.
“Why
me?” Frost eyed the Black Dragon…or
rather the grate that the Black Dragon’s voice emanated from.
“Excuse
me?” The cultured voice was politely confused.
As Frost said, bounty hunters didn’t usually ask ‘why’. But Frost had a feeling that she was chosen
for reasons other than the fact that she was one of the best.
“Why
did you choose me for your mission?”
“Because
you are the best.” The Black Dragon
replied smoothly.
“That’s
not what I meant. I want to know if
there are any other reasons…because if there are, I may be able to use them to
my, and thus your, advantage.”
“You
look like his lover.”
“Oh?”
Frost raised an eyebrow.
“His
first love, and only up until recently.
She…died…a long time ago.” The
Black Dragon said emotionlessly.
“I
see…that should make things easier then.
I know the perfect snare for him.”
Frost paused for a moment before smiling. “I’ll take your mission.”
“What?
No haggling?” The Black Dragon sounded
amused.
“Nnn.” Frost waved a hand dismissively. “Too much hassle. Besides, I am…intrigued…by this job.”
“Alright
then. It’s yours. You’ll be taken through a spirit-gateway to
his current location later today.”
“Excellent.”
* * *
Frost
looked around. She was in an urban
area…a quiet area of what she assumed was a much larger city. There were plenty of apartments in this
area, and Frost had been informed that the Assassin-General was living in
one. It wouldn’t take her very long to
find out which one, even though there were a lot. She had been supplied with plenty of spending money and the first
thing she did was rent a local apartment.
She needed somewhere to live…a base of operations, while she found that
runaway A-G.
Due
to the fact that she had large funds to draw from, Frost found a small
apartment quite easily. She worked out
of there, tracking down the A-G. She
found out where he lived and what stores he frequented. Then she moved out and bought an apartment
closer to his so that she could observe him better. She learned his general schedule through observation, and when
she was sure both him and his lover were out and would remain out for a while,
she bugged their apartment thoroughly.
Once the bugs were installed it was much easier to keep track of what
the target and his lover were up to.
Barely the day after Frost had installed the bugs a perfect opportunity
presented itself. The target’s lover
(or at least she assumed that the girl he lived with was his lover…) sent him
out to the local grocery because they had run out of milk. She could easily corner him when he was
alone. Frost applied silver lipstick
before she went out, instead of her usual light blue. She also tied her hair back into a ponytail and donned a loose
blue sweater. She wanted to maximize
her resemblance of his dead lover…and according to the pictures she was given
this was how the woman had dressed. She
considered contacts, but the target would probably be too shocked to notice
much when she first introduced herself to him. She intended to introduce herself with a bang…shock him with a
brief encounter so that he wouldn’t be sure that he hadn’t been dreaming. Frost smiled to herself as she slipped out
of her apartment and found a dark alley to lurk in. She waited in the shadows for the target to walk by. She was counting on the fact that he was
supposedly the type that wouldn’t hurt a woman until she did something
dangerous. If he waited for her to hurt
him, she wouldn’t have to worry about his formidable skills as an
assassin. Sure enough, when the target
walked past the mouth of the alleyway where she lurked, she had no trouble
dragging him off the street and pushing him into the shadows where one of the
rare passersby wouldn’t see. Frost
pinned the target against the brick wall in front of her without using much
force. The A-G blinked at her…on an
emotionless assassin’s face that was equal to a look of surprise and
bafflement. Before he could react,
Frost pressed her body against his, and kissed him soundly on the lips. She broke away before he could think to
shove her off, and stared for a moment at her quarry. The target’s catlike golden eye was slightly wider than normal
and her breath stirred the curtain of black bangs that fell over her face. Her hands were entangled in his heavy black
hair, drawing it to the side, but shadows obscured the double scar that slashed
his right eye shut. She stepped back
and smiled enigmatically at him before melting into the shadows. She too was trained as an assassin and knew
how to disappear. The target was left
standing in the alleyway with only the slightest trace of silver on his lips to
hint that the whole thing had not been a dream. He had a lost look on his face and his single eye searched the
darkness.
“Meloiya…?” He called out softly to the empty alleyway,
but of course there was no answer…
Frost
bit into her breakfast as she read the morning newspaper for inspiration. Frankly, she was bored. She spent most of her time harassing the
target, but when she wasn’t busy with that, there wasn’t a whole lot else to
do. She had already scoped out a place
for her next ‘appearance’. Chewing
thoughtfully, Frost pondered her last encounter. Perhaps she had moved a bit quickly, but it fit her strategy and
she had been attracted to him. Nothing
wrong with that. Finishing her
breakfast and the newspaper at the same time, the young woman cleaned up her
dishes before going to put on her makeup.
Her makeup was essential for the role she played in this mission,
because it emphasized her likeness to the target’s first lover. Sad story that one… The target’s first and only lover (until now)
had been murdered right before his eyes.
She didn’t know any more of the story except for that, but his emotional
attachment to the memory should make things easier for her. Frost smiled as she looked in the
mirror. A bit of lipstick here, some
silver highlights on her hair, some eyeliner there…and she was almost a dead
ringer for the woman from the target’s past.
Today’s encounter would be at the grocery store. It would serve a dual purpose for her, since
she also wanted the target to split with his current lover. People are always more vulnerable when
they’re alone. She would casually bump
into him and hopefully he would be too shocked to react right away. Ideally the target would stand and stare for
a few moments, wondering what he saw.
Maybe he would even run after her.
That would be more interesting, but even if he just stood and stared his
lover would ask questions. Frost could
see it playing in her mind like a movie.
He would stand and stare, confused by what he saw, disturbed by the fact
that who he just saw was supposed to be dead.
His lover looks at him, and then looks for what he is staring at. Not
seeing anything out of the ordinary, she turns back to him. What? She asks, confused by his sudden fixation on something she can’t
see. The target takes a minute to
compose himself then turns away. Nothing… He would reply. He wouldn’t be sure enough yet to voice his opinions to her. Frost shook herself out of her reverie. The situation could go that way, or he could
attempt to chase her. If he chased her
it would be more fun for Frost, but either way would be effective. That and the fact that her encounters with
him would send him home with lipstick on his face and perfume lingering about
him. If that didn’t make his little
lover jealous, nothing would. No, the
upcoming events would open a rift between the target and his girlfriend, and
Frost would use that rift.
* * *
Positive
that her makeup was perfect and that her next move was all planned out, Frost
left her apartment. She walked the few
blocks to the local grocery store and began to browse a random aisle. Frost had all sorts of bugging equipment
installed in the target’s apartment and therefore knew his schedule almost
better than he did. His lover had
decided today was a good day to go to the grocery store with her
boyfriend. Last night’s excursion had
only been out of necessity. The lover
had run out of milk and had needed more, so she sent the target on an emergency
run. Today’s trip was to obtain
provisions for the upcoming week. Frost
heard the automatic doors open at the front of the store as she was looking at
a suspicious-looking batch of canned meats.
She peered around the end of the aisle and spotted the target and his
lover entering the store. Frost almost hoped
that he would chase her. That would at
least cure some of her rampant boredom.
The couple was just about to pass the aisle she was in… So Frost turned
the corner of the aisle and brushed past the target with a murmured “Excuse
me.” Smiling as she walked away, Frost
could picture the sudden blank took on his face as old memories triggered. She could almost feel the rush of air as the
target whirled around just in time to catch a look at her from a distance as
she exited the store. Now here was the
turning point… Frost walked briskly
down the sidewalk, but only made it a few paces before the store doors slammed
open forcefully behind her.
“You!
Wait!” Frost smiled. There it was…perhaps he had decided to chase
her. Of course she didn’t wait though,
she hurried forward through the crowd entering and exiting the store. However she could hear the indignant cries
of other customers being pushed out of the way echoing behind her like a wave. She had her route all planned out, odd
little alleyways and things she could use if he was faster than her. Engineered carefully so that however fast he
ran, all the target would ever see would be a glimpse of silvery-white hair
disappearing somewhere. Frost heard
footsteps behind her as she ducked around the corner of a building. “Meloiya?
Wait!” This was too fun. She hadn’t had anything this interesting in
a long while. Emotions were so much
more challenging and amusing to manipulate than hormones. Running feet entering the alleyway behind
her signaled Frost to duck into a cross street. Frost led the target on a merry chase after that, weaving here
and there in a complex dance of hide and seek.
To his credit, the target took a long time to wear out and didn’t give
up at any part in the chase. He must be
really attached to his memories…
Finally Frost reached the edges of the business area of the city with
the target hot on her tail, now to give him his reward. Frost had to keep from giggling like a
little girl as she waited for him to catch up to her. The target turned the corner of the building and sighted
her. She was backed up against a brick
wall; he probably thought she was trapped.
He approached her carefully, like she was some sort of scared
animal. Frost just waited, keeping to
the shadows as much as possible because as much as she could have passed for
Meloiya’s sister, she wasn’t an exact copy.
At least not in good lighting conditions. “Excuse me?” Hmmm, the
target was being polite. “I’m sorry if
I’ve alarmed you…” Frost knew what would be going through his head right
now. Logic was finally kicking in and
he was realizing that he could have made quite and offensive mistake. “Is that you Meloiya?” Now there was the key question. There was so much apprehension in his voice;
Frost just couldn’t bear to disappoint him.
“It’s
me.” She breathed, and in a moment she
was kissing him again. He broke away
first.
“But
how…?” He was so adorably confused.
“Shh…”
Frost put a finger to his lips to quiet him and kissed him again. That always seemed to shut a person up. “Someday…I told you…Someday we’d shine…” Now
that part had surprised her. It had
just sort of come out…Shine? But it
seemed to hit a nerve and the target responded to her kiss, sweeping her into a
desperate embrace. She pulled away
first this time. “Skai…you’re hurting
me…” She had used the target’s name…that was a last resort on her part. Always better to objectify the target, but
she had to break free before he gathered his wits about him. And to allow her to gather hers… “I…I can’t!” That was a good ambiguous response. It didn’t mean anything in particular so it meant whatever he
wanted it to mean. Frost broke from the
comforting circle of his arms and fled the scene. She fled because it was necessary and because she was
frightened. “Someday…” She found
herself whispering, even though she had never said any such thing before in her
life. “Someday…I told you…Someday we’ll
shine together like the stars…”
Back
in her apartment, Frost managed to compose herself. Brutally forcing any speculations as to what had just happened
out of her head, Frost splashed cold water on her face. Perhaps she should relinquish this mission,
call it quits, only because she wanted to, of course. However the more she thought about it, the more Frost realized
that she was trapped. She had been a
fool. This Black Dragon was obviously a
man of power and would not be kind to those who disappointed him. How could she have accepted a job this
dangerous out of mere curiosity? Frost
sighed. Normally such a thing would not
have been a problem, but this time was different. Why was it that the first job she had ever taken that she could
not back out of was suddenly the only one she had ever wanted to back out
of? She walked out of the bathroom and
looked out the living room window. It
had just started to rain outside. Just
as well, the weather suited her mood.
The raindrops pattered softly on the roof, drumming rhythmically in time
with Frost’s heart. She was on the top
floor of her apartment so although she wouldn’t have to listen to people
running around above her, she did have to listen to the rain. Frost preferred the rain. Blinking at the dismal day, the ice-eyed
young woman turned away from the window and sat down on the battered
couch. She would not think about the
how or why of what happened between her and the target, she would merely
continue with her plan and hope that she did not continue to say strange things
when she did not mean to. Then again,
if she thought about it, the slip-up had actually worked in her favor, just as
long as it didn’t happen again. She had
shocked the target (and herself) with something she had said (the part about
the stars?) and it had almost seemed to drive home what she wanted him to
believe anyway. At least that was what
she hoped. From how he had reacted,
Frost was pretty sure that she had hit upon a nerve of some sort. If she was lucky it was a nerve that the
death of his previous lover had left raw and open. So she supposed that her slip-up had actually been a good
thing…as long as it never happened again.
What Frost would not admit to herself was that she was afraid. She liked being in control and wasn’t happy
when that control was taken from her.
Saying things that she had never heard, much less said before in her
life definitely counted as out of control.
Frost
tossed in her sleep that night. A
silvery-white wolf that howled brokenly like a sobbing human and followed her
around wherever she went haunted her dreams.
Sometimes she was the wolf, and sometimes it was someone else. It was enough to disturb her sleep for the
whole night and leave her needing more than one cup of coffee the next morning.
Frost
awoke bleary eyed the next morning. Her
sleep had been disturbed by strange dreams all night long and as a result she
wasn’t exactly as fresh as usual.
Grumbling to herself, Frost fixed a suitable breakfast and decided to
take a day off from her hunt. However,
that did not mean that she would take it easy.
Plenty of things could occupy Frost’s time if she wished, and today
Frost desired exercise. Physical work
cleared her mind and took her mind off distracting thoughts. So she spent the day working out and
practicing. By the end of the day she
had tired herself out enough that she fell asleep with no trouble. Unfortunately that did not protect her from
her dreams.
- - -
***She
touched his cold, bluish-tinged cheek gently.
He was so cold… How had he
survived out here? Carrying him inside
she laid him down on the bed and unwrapped his frozen cloak from around his
shoulders, leaving him clothed only in a worn pair of breeches. His skin was so cold… Was he still alive? Tucking the sheet up under his chin, she
kneeled by the bedside to check on his temperature. In a few minutes she knew that his own body heat alone couldn’t
create the necessary warmth for his near-frozen body to recover. So she climbed in with him. She kept her clothes on so it wasn’t a
sexual gesture. Besides, the woman
smiled to herself, he was unconscious and suffering from hypothermia it would
be like flirting with a dead body. She
hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Well,
the best way to warm a hypothermic person is with body heat, so she did just
that. She lay there, curled around the
young man she had found in the snow, trying to bring him back from the brink of
death, praying that he would live.
Slowly her body heat began to warm the air under the covers as well as
the young man, and it became quite cozy in the nest of blankets. Her eyelids drooped and her head nodded
until it was pillowed on his bare chest.
She had no idea that this was the Black Wolf who would change her life.
***
Frost awoke the next morning
feeling oddly alone. Like there was
something missing… Ignoring the
feeling, or rather shoving it brutally into an unrecognized corner of her mind,
she got out of bed. Surprisingly she
felt well rested. Which defied the fact
that she had another one of those strange dreams last night. If Frost was disturbed by these dreams she
didn’t show it. Stony-faced even when
alone in her apartment, she quietly prepared her breakfast. She had to go back to hunting today… She had shown unacceptable weakness
yesterday by staying home. Fear of what
would happen if she went near the target was not a reasonable excuse. She had more self-control and training than
that. However, just to be safe and due
to preplanned strategy, she would hunt the target from afar for a while. Never speak to him or touch him. If she allowed too much contact beyond the
initial gestures that engraved her in his mind, then he would have far too many
opportunities to disprove what she wanted him to believe. She would shadow him, allowing a glimpse
here, a glance there, but no sureties.
She would hunt him until he became more malleable. Smiling to herself, Frost once more began
her stalking of the target.
* * *
The
next few weeks went nicely, Frost had almost no trouble at all. Except that she had odd dreams every
night…but she had no trouble with the target.
He, however, was beginning to look quite haggard. For that matter, so was his girlfriend. A rift should be forming between them soon,
a silence between them that would drive them apart. Frost should have been feeling the satisfaction of success, but
instead odd feelings stirred in her. It
felt as if she had eaten something nasty for breakfast. Her stomach writhed when she saw their tired
faces, the looks in their eyes… But she
was succeeding! What Frost didn’t
realize, was that she was beginning to look haggard as well. She had long ago managed to unconsciously
perfect the art of self-denial. Locking
all her feelings up behind a wall of ice.
The dreams she had been having lately were bothering her as well. They were almost like events from someone
else’s life…and they were causing stirrings of longing in her icy heart. She had no idea what those stirrings were or
what they meant, much less how to deal with them. All in all, this mission was wearing away at Frost; whatever she
tricked herself into believing.
It
was hard to separate the target from his girlfriend, thought Frost in
annoyance. They were nearly always
together…well…except when they were apart.
Which was a ridiculous statement!
Frost realized that, but she just couldn’t think properly. She had begun to meet the target’s eyes when
she encountered him, and it was painful for her to see the wounds in those
amber pools. It caused that odd upset
of her stomach. And it almost seemed
worse for the girlfriend. The target
was an Assassin-General, however much he had softened, but the girl had far
fewer emotional defenses. Frost
sometimes sat in the darkness, listening to the equipment that tapped the
pair’s apartment. Listening for
information that would be useful to her mission. But night after night all she heard was the girlfriend crying
herself to sleep. Her name was
Aria. Frost would listen to the girl
sob and begin to feel an ache in her chest.
The rift between the pair wasn’t forming like Frost had planned. The two were not fighting, only suffering
because they could not ease the other’s pain.
Aria knew what was happening to Skai, but had no power to protect him
from his memories. Skai knew what his
distress was doing to Aria but couldn’t hide it from the girl who had gotten so
close to him. Frost was…curious…and
strangely sad for the odd couple. It
was not a misunderstanding and jealousy that hurt them, it was their closeness. They acted as a loop. Feedback from each other’s pain put shields
and defenses up and numbed their hearts, but they stayed together.
* * *
Frost had her own problems
as well. She could no longer sleep for
more than a couple of hours a night…she was cold inside. It almost felt as if there was a malevolent
creature made of ice wreaking havoc in her body. Eating slowly away at her from the inside out. She was haunted by the sounds of the White
Wolf and Aria, sobbing as one. So she
lay there, unable to sleep. The plain
cotton sheets twisted abstractly around her ankles, thrown off in a fit of
restlessness. Night after night she lay
staring up at the ceiling, shivering from the ice in her heart and listening to
the cries of the woman who loved the man she hunted.
VIII
Frost
had planned her final move. If she had
actually been able to think properly, her assassin mind would have revealed how
many holes there were in her plan.
However, some part of her tired and battered consciousness realized that
if something didn’t happen soon they would all die; wither away like unwatered
houseplants. That part of her mind
encouraged her to create the plan she did.
Frost decided that she needed to confront the target. She didn’t quite have him under her heel
yet, but he must be close to the breaking point. His life was a raging stream of emotional torment and confusion
right now. Given a rock to cling to, he
would hold on for his life. Frost
planned to be that rock. She would have
to be careful though. If she was
careful her plan would work. He would
latch onto her and she would bring him back to the Black Dragon, obedient as a
well-behaved puppy. Although it meant
she needed a longer stretch of time alone with him. Aria had to go out tomorrow evening…it was the perfect
opportunity. Sure she had to go into
enemy territory, confront him on his own turf…but where would he be more
relaxed than in his own home? His guard
would be slightly lower than in any other environment. He wouldn’t be on the alert in a safe
environment. It was exactly the right
time to finish this hellish mission.
* * *
Perhaps
if Frost had not buried her emotions so deep, she would understand how
dangerous her upset stomach was to the mission. But since Frost could not recognize the stirrings of sympathy and
guilt in her own heart, she could not realize that the risk she took was
greater than she thought. Frost knew
that pity was a dangerous weakness; she just had no idea that she was feeling
it every time she looked at Skai and Aria.
Every time her stomach churned from meeting their sad eyes. She was teetering on the edge of a canyon of
her own emotions. If she only realized
how thin the shields around her heart had become… Lying to yourself never pays
off.
Frost
looked at the door to Skai and Aria’s…no…the target and his girlfriend’s
apartment. Frost had been here once
before to install her bugs and taps.
She took a deep breath before putting a hand on the doorknob. The building they lived in was old and the
lock was a piece of cake for an assassin of Frost’s caliber. But the door was unlocked… How odd.
Frost opened the door and slid quietly into the apartment. Assassin-Generals were nearly impossible to
sneak up on but Frost was the best, her skills honed to razor sharpness, and
Skai-…the target, was a haunted has-been; gone soft from a life with his
girlfriend. Almost as soon as she had
closed the door behind her, Frost heard an odd noise from the bathroom. It sounded like glass breaking. Skai… Hardly realizing what she was doing, Frost was suddenly looking in
through the open bathroom door at a scene that tugged at even her icy
heart. Skai was standing at the
counter, head bowed. The remains of a
mirror scattered explosively on the countertop and floor told that it was an
impressive force that had shattered the reflective glass. Judging from the crimson trails tracing
macabre spider webs on Skai’s hands, Frost could guess what that force had
been. Skai was clothed only in an old
pair of jeans and Frost could see the scars that littered his bare back. She crept up behind him…now was as good a
time as any she supposed. But when she
spoke, she was surprised by the quiver in her voice.
“Skai?” The dark-haired young man shifted slightly
but didn’t raise his head.
“Go
away.” His own voice was surprisingly small. A hoarse whisper spoken to a nightmare when
you aren’t sure whether it’s real or not.
“Whoever you are…I…Just leave me alone…” His shoulders shook and Frost
was astonished to realize he was crying.
She could see his face in the mirror shards…and his cheeks were bone
dry. He was crying without tears. Frost moved closer. She saw the man shut his eyes. “I said go away.” Skai’s voice began to
harden. It was amazing how quickly he
was pulling himself together. Frost
stopped but didn’t leave. She watched
the Assassin-General cover up his vulnerability, pull up his emotional shields
like they were a second skin. She saw
the real Skai disappear behind a wall of steel as hard as the ice that
surrounded her.
“I…”
And suddenly Frost found herself unable to speak; unable to lie, to deceive, to
twist or to torture him any longer. Her
emotions hammered at their icy prison, screaming to be released as she watched
the man she was supposed to be hunting.
She was unable to hurt him, unable to hurt the pair that she had been
watching for just over a month now, unable to hurt them anymore. She had watched two human beings; two strong
and spirited individuals crumble under her influence. Harden into shelled husks who hid from their own emotions. For the first time in her life as an
assassin, Frost felt remorse. Damn the
mission. Damn her denial. Damn the icy walls that kept her from doing
what she knew she had to do. The
analytical part of her mind wondered at its sudden ability to identify the
emotions that had been escaping classification. Pain, loneliness, fear, guilt, pity. Lo- Frost drew herself back to the situation at hand. “Skai…I…I’ll explain everything…just come
and sit down…please?” Surprisingly the
tall male complied numbly when she took his hand and led him to his own living
room and sat him down on his couch. She
used her clean handkerchief to bandage his hand before stepping back and
standing uncertainly. She was too
uncomfortable to sit, but where would she stand? Awkwardness was also a new feeling for Frost, and not a pleasant
one. In a single moment her
hard-wrought defenses had come crashing down around her ears. Well most of them at least, she still had
some left. Skai stirred and sat up
straighter. Frost almost smiled. He still had predator instincts yet…he had
sensed her indecision and narrowed in on it like a shark to blood.
“You
said you would explain. What the hell
is going on?” Skai finally looked up
and Frost was taken aback. The warm,
alive amber depths she was used to were now as cold and hard as steel. He really was an Assassin-General.
“I…”
Frost was still staring at those terrible eyes…they were so cold. She couldn’t speak.
“Explain!”
The haggard young man barked. At that
moment, clarity hit Frost with the terrible reality of the situation and she
knew that this would be her last mission.
She knew that there was only one way out of this. Skai, the Black Dragon…herself…only one way
that this would all end up…right.
Skai’s eyes were murderously sharp as he barked that one command at
her. She knew her part, she knew her
path, and confronted with the terrible truth in those eyes she could do nothing
but begin her story.
“I…I am not
your dead lover. My name is Frost. I have been sent to reclaim your services
for the Black Dragon. In other words,
this whole mess is my fault.” Frost
stated numbly. Skai’s head was bowed
again. At least she could not see the
hate burning in his eyes anymore. To
see him look at her like that hurt her very being more than anything else she
had ever experienced. He hated
her. He would kill her…but first… He had the right to know exactly how much
justice he was going to be doing when he rid the world of her presence.
“My
sole purpose in coming in contact with you was to tie you to me by using my
resemblance to your dead lover. I was
then supposed to bring you back to serve the Black Dragon, using that tie. I calculatedly tore apart yours and Aria’s
lives and defiled your memories of Meloiya.
This sort of thing has been my job for a long time and I have destroyed
the lives of hundreds of people… This
is the first mission I have ever failed…the first mission where I could not
complete my domination of the target’s soul and free will. I am not exactly sure why…” Frost was saying
more than necessary now. With anyone
else it would have been babbling, but Frost wasn’t exactly normal. She was definitely uncomfortable though. Not afraid, but angry…angry with herself and
her actions concerning this mission.
No, disgusted. The words just
kept tumbling out and still Skai just sat there, like some sort of statue. She wished he would say something, but he
remained silent. So she just kept
talking… anything to fill that horrible silence. A silence loaded with his anger and hatred…with her failure and
pathetic confessions. “No, I do know
why…” She was treading on dangerous ground now…but every unsaid word was like a
weight on her newfound heart. It was
almost like she was possessed by something within herself. To speak so openly was not her way. But she just kept going. “I…Perhaps I began to feel something for you
and Aria… I…I felt a pain…in my heart. I started having dreams and…” No, nothing
about the dreams…it would just confuse him.
I need him to be focused when I unlash his anger. What is wrong with me? I need to pay more
attention to what I’m doing… “Well…all
I can tell you is that you cannot run.
Nothing can save you from the Black Dragon… He will do anything to get
you back. Do you know how much he paid
me to find you? I could probably buy my
own small country.” Frost was dead
serious as she said this. “With that
kind of money, even if I fail there will be others. How long can you hold out against a steady stream of the Black
Dragon’s hirelings? How can you live
with any kind of peace when his minions are constantly hunting you? He will not stop until he gets you
back. I am sorry Kuro.” Frost
didn’t realize that she had called Skai by another name. “Interesting that I have never said those
words before to anyone. It is almost
funny that I use them now when they are worse than useless. I cannot repair the damage I have done and I
know that.” At some point Skai had sat up like a bolt of electricity had been
run through him. He now sat so
rigidly…like he was waiting for something.
Frost knew that she wasn’t getting through to him. Logic wasn’t working. He needed to understand that he couldn’t run
any longer. He had to turn and
fight. To fight he had to be angry
enough… If the situation had been less desperate
even the old Frost would have raised an eyebrow at how quickly she had switched
from using her insight as a weapon against Skai, to using it to help him. He was strong, very powerful. But he had to be angry… angry enough to take
on the Black Dragon. She was doing the
world two favors at once. ‘Killing two
birds with one stone’ as the saying went.
But it still took courage to begin her final tirade, the conversation
designed to push Skai over the edge.
Doing so would probably mean her death, but that wasn’t what she was
afraid of. She didn’t want to do
it…because it would hurt Skai. Frost
took a deep breath before starting her act.
“You
do not understand, do you Kuro?”
Skai’s head jerked towards her, but she couldn’t meet his eyes. She had certainly said something that had
gotten his attention…but what was it?
“The Black Dragon will kill you.
He will kill you and your little bitch!” Frost spat the
last word like the curse it was. Not
because she hated Aria, but because she kind of admired the girl and was crying
inside at having to act this way. “He
will kill her and you. Just like he
killed Meloiya!” Skai jerked as if he had been physically hit. Meloiya had died some sort of unpleasant
death. [Wires…it had been wires.
They cut into me like knives…tiny knives.]
Frost shook her head to clear out the stray thought. Frost didn’t know how the woman had
died. [Bound to a giant wooden X by
wires…sharp, thin wires. I didn’t mean to scream like that but it hurt so much…]
She didn’t know the details, just that it had been gruesome. And that Skai had been present. [He cried. I told him not to cry, but he still did. Oh Kuro I’m so sorry…]
Frost couldn’t believe her mind was wandering at a time like this. Maybe she was going crazy…it didn’t really
matter. She was about to die
anyway. She still had to set out the
bait for Skai though. “He will kill
anyone you have loved, anyone you love right now and anyone you will ever
love. They will all die, and die slowly
for your betrayal.” Skai’s shoulders
began to shake. Frost was fairly sure
it was because of anger. He didn’t seem
to have noticed her sudden switch from calm logic to anger and cruelty. The Black Dragon had killed a few of
Skai’s loved ones, according to what Frost knew. His mother, his father and maybe his brother were all dead at the
hands of the Black Dragon. Not to
mention Meloiya. Those were all the
kills that she knew of anyway… She had
to direct Skai’s anger towards an object though. Right now, that would be her.
She was counting on the Black Dragon himself to do the rest. “Even as we speak my words are being
proven. I gave him Aria.” Skai’s shoulders froze in mid-shake. “She’s probably dead by now, when I left she
was past coherency. People get like
that when they’re being tortured. She
kept screaming your name…like she expected you to show up and rescue her or
something. She has a very pretty scream
you know, so pure. Like a little girl’s
scream, except full of pain and betraya-” Frost didn’t get the chance to finish
her sentence. It had worked. Skai had lunged across the table with
incredible speed and was now gripping her throat. His claws pressed into her neck and distracted her.
“Where
is she??!” Skai’s voice was a low,
feral growl. Frost was having trouble
breathing.
“You
want to hear her screams too?” Frost choked out the insult. Skai screamed in rage. Frost was getting lightheaded and spots were
beginning to decorate her vision.
Choking someone to death took longer in real life than it did in the
movies, but she didn’t have all day.
Since she was having trouble talking, Frost wordlessly opened a Gate to
the Black Dragon’s last known headquarters and let it suck them both through.
Frost’s vision was beginning
to alternate between glowing burst of white and dancing black spots when they
made it to the other side. She dangled
listlessly from Skai’s grasp, letting him throttle the life out of her. He didn’t seem to have noticed the change of
scenery. Frost was almost flattered
that he was so concentrated on killing her; it meant she had done well. Besides, the physical pain distracted her
from the anguish she felt at the memory of the stark bleakness she had seen in
Skai’s eyes as she had told her story.
When she had even dared to look him in the eye. Hopefully Aria would be fine…she was almost
sure that the girl had come to no harm.
What a happy reunion they’ll have… Frost thought lazily, her mind
sluggish from lack of oxygen. I’ll
be gone, the Black Dragon will be gone…they’ll be happy… Frost smiled, a single tear slipping down
her cheek as she began to lose her hold on consciousness. I…I just wish... Her thought was left unfinished as her
brain, protesting from the lack of oxygen, shut down some functions and
plummeted Frost into endless darkness. I
just wish… The echoes of her
thought followed Frost as she fell further and further away from life.
The
first tears Skai had cried in years raced down his cheeks, but he paid them no
heed. His blind rage was focused on the
woman dangling in his grasp. She had
hurt Aria. Rage burned in him at the
thought, but that was not the only cause of his focus. She had betrayed him. She who looked so much like…her. She had betrayed him. There was another little voice hammering at
his thoughts, outside the cocoon of anger.
It was yelling at him to stop, screaming at him not to kill her. Why? Wondered his strangely calm but angry
mind. Why not…? There was a reason though…something he
couldn’t quite remember…couldn’t quite grasp.
His real emotions were such a tangle right now…he couldn’t sort them out
at all. His confusion turned to rage
the moment she had began to tell him how much of a traitor she really was. Traitor…you traitor…I thought…I thought
you loved me…No! Not her! It’s not her! Skai snarled and shook the now unconscious
body, his mind distracted by his inner conflict. That thing he couldn’t remember still bothered him, but
everything seemed so far away. He was
so angry…felt so much rage, rage at having to kill her, rage at wanting to kill
her. Rage at not wanting to… His confusion blinded him, he didn’t know
how to deal with confusion, anger was safer.
Anger… Her was killing her. It hurt.
It hurt…hurt who? It hurt
her. It hurt him more. He didn’t care. She had said something though…
It tugged at his memory again.
Even inside the cocoon he could fee her pulse slowing under his death
grip.
Slowing...
Kill her.
Slowing…
Love her.
Slowing…
Hate her.
Slowing…
Save her!
Slow…
Don’t care.
Slow…
It hurts…inside…I hurt…
Slowed.
She’s dead?
Stop…
Again?
Meloiya?
Stopped…
-I
love you…-
Skai dropped Frost’s limp
body as if scalded by it. Her lips
hadn’t moved. She was dead. But he had heard her voice loud and clear. With a sickening clarity, Skai suddenly
realized the thought that had been trying to break through his rage. He remembered the thing that had been
bothering him.
“I am sorry Kuro.”
She…
“You do not understand, do you Kuro?”
What she said…
Kuro.
Skai
stared blankly as old memories rushed through him, each one giving more
evidence to the awful idea forming in his mind. All the times he had seen her looks in Frost’s eyes. All the times she had called him that
when she was still alive. Said it with
that wry grin of hers, as if she was sharing a joke that only the two of them
knew about.
Kuro.
She had never told anyone else her name for him; it
was kind of their secret. She was like
that…she loved in-jokes. It wasn’t
really a joke in the end though, they got so used to it. It was more like a nickname.
I killed her…?
Skai backed away from Frost’s crumpled body in horror. He was at a completely new level of
confusion… How had she known? Who was she? How had she known Meloiya’s nickname for him? He remembered the
day she had told him what it meant.
Memories of the past melded with his confusion of the present.
“It
means dark, or black.”
How…
“I
think it’s appropriate, don’t you?”
That woman…?
“After
all, you’re kinda dark...Mr. Mysterious…especially with that wonderful, rich
black hair of yours…I love it, it’s so thick I’ve never seen anyone with hair
like yours …” She laughed and tugged a lock of his hair affectionately. He looked like he wasn’t sure whether to
smile back or frown at her. She just
laughed even more. “See, Kuro fit’s you
perfectly!”
She…
Skai backed up as much as he could until he bumped into a
post. He whimpered deep in his
throat. It was a scared, confused,
animalistic sound.
I killed her…you killed her…I
No! The Black Dragon killed Meloiya!
I killed her.
But…
Who was Frost…really?
Skai threw back his head and howled. “I don’t know!” He cried brokenly. “I
don’t understand! She’s not the
woman I loved! I didn’t kill her!” He sobbed, trying to convince himself.
XII
“Well,
well. What do we have here?” A smooth, cultured voice interrupted Skai’s
torment. He turned slowly to face the
owner. That voice…
“You!” He snarled.
The Black Dragon looked amused.
“Oh
dear… It seems you’ve killed my lovely
tool.” He ignored Skai’s anger and
gestured to Frost’s limp form. He
frowned after a second. “Hmm…it was
just as well, seeing as she betrayed me in the end. She wouldn’t have lived long anyway.”
“You wanted
me back, didn’t you?” Skai’s voice was
cold enough to crack stone. “She brought
me back.”
“Ahh…you
were always a little dense when it came to reading people.” The Black Dragon sighed. “You don’t understand at all. She brought you here to kill me, not to be
recaptured. I was lucky enough to see
almost all of her speech to you. I
didn’t interrupt because frankly it amused me.
She really is quite clever, a talented actress too. Much more interesting than I thought she’d
be. Oh and don’t worry, your girlfriend
is quite safe, I assure you. Frost knew
that. She just wanted to make you angry
enough to kill her. I suppose she
couldn’t live with herself once she began to feel. It’s too bad she’s such a coward; I was really starting to like
her. Well…and she brought you here to
kill me, I don’t know if I could have forgiven that…I think she hoped that you
would live happily ever after with your little girlfriend if I was dead.” The Black Dragon laughed as if he had just
made a joke. Skai’s expression slowly
twisted from coldness to numbness. What
the Black Dragon was saying started to make sense. It explained her odd attitude changes…why she had brought him
here…why she hadn’t struggled at all…
The Black Dragon caught Skai’s expression.
“Oh Skai, you do amuse me. You can’t have seen have not seen how much
it hurt her to do what she did. Oh
dear… It seems that you’ve made a small error.
You don’t like killing people who are on your side. Well don’t feel too bad, I would have killed
her anyway after I got you back. After
all, the little bitch went and fell in love with you behind my back.” The Black Dragon once again seemed to see a
joke in this that was lost on anyone else.
He laughed to himself for quite a while. A new rage boiled up in Skai.
Some self-hatred for what he had done, Frost may have done many bad
things…but she didn’t deserve to die like that... Not by his hand. He had
no right to take her life. However most
of his hatred was for the Black Dragon.
This was not a confused rage. This rage was a white-hot arrow pointing
straight at the man laughing at his own joke.
Frost. Frost was a joke to
him. Once again the present melded with
the past. His confusion about Frost
made his anger at the Black Dragon’s reaction to her death meld with his anger
at Meloiya’s murderer. She had
sacrificed herself for him. They both
had. Sacrificed themselves for their
sense of honor. She was just a
joke. She had loved him. She was gone… He had killed her. The
Black Dragon killed her… Love. Sacrifice.
Honor. Pain. A joke.
“Stop
laughing Darkchild!” The true title
of the Black Dragon grated from Skai’s tongue.
His voice was like a blade on metal.
The voice was laced with hatred and murder that would have made most men
cower under their beds. The Black
Dragon merely glanced back towards Skai.
“Oh, you’re
angry. My you look frightening, I don’t
recommend looking in a mirror right now.”
Skai truly did look frightening.
His hair had come undone from its loose ponytail and was wafting on an
unseen updraft, forming a dark halo around his head. Clear scarlet flames leapt and danced, enveloping him in their
energy, but not causing him harm. His
single remaining eye was pure bone-white; all traces of a pupil or an iris had
vanished. Angry was an
understatement.
“Do calm down. It will make this ever so much easier.” The
Black Dragon sighed tiredly. Skai only
snarled. Slowly he raised one hand and
held it steady, palm facing straight at the Black Dragon. Teach him a lesson…make him stop laughing
for once…
“I warn you now. I will rid the world of your presence…for my
mother, for my father, for the White Dragon, for Meloiya, and for Frost. Whether it takes me a thousand years of a
thousand lifetimes, I swear it. I warn
you now.” With that statement a beam of
pure white light shot from Skai’s hand and through the Black Dragon. The other man staggered and clutched at his
chest. There was a large, perfectly
circular hole bored through it. The
sides were closing in quickly, organs and tissue re-growing and knitting
themselves back together. The Black
Dragon had never really been human, even though he looked it, and he was
certainly lucky he didn’t heal like one.
The man coughed blood, and Skai could see that he’d injured the Black
Dragon badly. When the wound had sealed
completely and the Black Dragon could stand even close to straight, he looked
at Skai consideringly.
“You are stronger than I
thought. You keep surprising me.” He shook his head somewhat ruefully. “Sometimes I wonder what kind of monster I
have created. This encounter had cost
me precious energy and I fear that I must leave so that I can recuperate. Although if I were you, I would have taken
this opportunity to kill me, I know you have an odd sense of morals. Thank you for the warning Skai. Farewell, we will meet again.” And with that, the Black Dragon opened a
Gate and vanished. Skai was left
empty. His rage had fled and he was
alone in the chamber with the body of Frost.
She had died for him. Died in
vain. How did he feel about that…did he
still hate her? Or… Why did he get the feeling
that she was somehow more important to him than he had originally thought? He was trying to deny what he now knew was
true. Somehow, although it was beyond
him how it happened, Meloiya had come back for him, through that woman. That’s why that woman had sacrificed herself
for him. It had really been her. He hated Frost, but he loved Meloiya, and he
had killed her.
XIII
As Frost was swallowed by darkness,
she dreamed again. The darkness was
replaced by the interior of a cabin. It
was the same cabin from her first dream about Skai, the one where she had
pulled him out of the snow and coaxed him back to health. There was a silvery-white wolf standing and
staring at her, also inside the cabin.
They stood on the worn wooden floor for a moment, the yellow wood almost
glowing in the sunlight, and just looked at each other. This was the wolf from her dreams.
“Meloiya?” She hesitated slightly before voicing the
name.
“Yes.” The wolf ducked her head.
“I thought you would know. You
are perceptive, even when buried in self-denial.”
“Where am I…Am I dead?” Frost ignored the comment about her contact
with reality.
“No, in a way, we are in your
subconscious mind.” The wolf’s odd
pale-turquoise eyes pierced her with their intensity.
“What?” She was confused. “Is this
not a dream?”
“Never mind. Just think of it as one then.” The wolf sighed and dropped its gaze. Which was an odd gesture coming from an
animal. “You are dying Frost.” The wolf once again turned that piercing
gaze on her, its face unreadable.
“I know.” Frost said simply. “I deserve to die and Skai needs to be the
one to kill me. I have done so much to
hurt him. This is my penance, and his
reward.”
“No!” The wolf shook itself
violently, like a dog shaking off excess water. “No matter what it seems like, no matter what he says, he doesn’t
hate you Frost.” But Meloiya could see
that the other woman did not believe her.
“Skai needs you to save him. If
you die now, so will he. Maybe not
today, not tomorrow, but not when he is meant to, all because you ran from your
guilt. Dying is the easy way out. Serve your penance by helping Aria save
him. She cannot do it alone.” The wolf tried to communicate the true
meaning of her words to Frost, but she was still being dense. So much like Skai in some ways… “I will slow your heart so that you will go
into a state one notch down from hibernation.
Hopefully Skai will stop throttling you after he believes you are
dead. I will be able to reawaken you if
he lets go before you truly die from lack of oxygen.”
“I…” Frost began, but the wolf
looked at her again and that one look killed any objections. The wolf knew what she was doing. Frost watched the cabin fade out, and with
it went her awareness. She still had
one thing she wanted to ask the wolf, but everything was going gray so
quickly. “How am I supposed to protect
him when I don’t even know what the danger will be?” She asked the thickening grayness, but if there was an answer she
never heard it.
* * *
Meloiya
heard Frost’s question and smiled somewhat sadly. The girl would never hear her, but she answered anyway, speaking
more for herself than anything. “All
you have to do is love him…but you wouldn’t believe me if I told you that,
would you? I’m so sorry I can’t help
you now…but he needs to get to know you. That will never happen if he keeps seeing me in your eyes.” The wolf lay down, curling its tail around
to brush its nose, and appeared to go to sleep.
XIV
Frost
stirred when she heard an unfamiliar sound.
She opened her eyes painfully and winced. She had a killer headache.
There was an unfamiliar face leaning over hers, and her head was
pillowed on someone’s lap. Frost
stirred again, uncomfortably. Her eyes
refused to focus. She tried to speak.
“I…” It came
out as more of a creak, but it certainly had an effect on the person. The blurry figure’s face jerked up to look
at her, but she still couldn’t make out features.
“You…” The
figure began. Frost froze when she
heard the voice. It was Skai’s. She closed her eyes again. He sounded surprised. He must hate her so much…. It would really suck to kill someone you
hate, only to have them open their eyes a few minutes later. He spoke again. “No! Wait!” His voice had
a desperate tone to it. He shook her
shoulders. Her head throbbed and she
winced. He must have noticed the motion
because his next words were amazed.
“You’re alive…” Skai breathed.
Frost wanted to curl up and…well…die.
But Meloiya had said that Skai would die if she did so she had to
live. She owed it to him. She assumed that it was probably some sort
of thing that her assassin skills would come in handy for. Maybe she was supposed to be his bodyguard. Aria didn’t look like the type who could
protect him from any sort of physical attack.
Frost would try her hardest to save Skai from this unknown menace, even
if it killed her…figuratively or literally.
“Yes…I’m
alive.” Frost sighed, still not opening
her eyes. “I know you thought I was
dead and I’m sorry tha-” Frost was cut off as he wrapped her in a fierce
embrace.
“Oh
thank the gods you’re alive!” He really
must need her help if he was happy that she was alive. It occurred to Frost that maybe Skai knew
what he was in danger from and knew that he needed her help. Either that or he wanted to have the
satisfaction of killing her again. “Oh
Meloiya I thought I’d lost you again.” Ohhhh…. That was it. He thought…. oh dear, what a mess. That could cause some dreadful
misunderstandings. The normally calm
and fairly unimaginative Frost blushed at what her mind conjured up as possible
“misunderstandings”. No. She could not lie to him like that. She had to set Skai straight… No matter how
disappointed he would be or how much she wished that she could just lie to him
and have him not hate her.
“I’m
not Meloiya, I’m Frost.”
“But-”
“But
nothing.” Frost said, attempting to put
ice in her voice. “I look like her but
that’s it.” Frost stated firmly.
“How
did you…how did you know about Meloiya then?
Why did you call me…call me by her name for me?” Frost froze. Oops…she didn’t really know why…she didn’t even remember calling
him that. Ummm…
“Coincidence,
and what the Black Dragon told me.”
Frost lied. She hated lying to
him, but she really wasn’t Meloiya and she had to make him believe that. No getting his hopes up. Skai looked lost.
“So…you
aren’t…”
“No,
I’m not.” Frost said, managing a cold
tone of voice. She wanted to hold him
in her arms. Comfort him. Tell him that part about the stars
again. [Someday we’ll shine together
like the stars.] Yeah, that was
it. But she couldn’t.
“But
I saw her! I saw her in your eyes!”
Skai’s eyes were wild. Frost
blinked. What was that supposed
to mean… This wasn’t some sort of thing
thought up by Meloiya was it? Was this part
of the plan? Frost wasn’t sure how to
respond to that. Luckily she didn’t
have to, Skai took matters into his own hands.
He grabbed her face roughly, and drew it towards his, searching her eyes
as he did so. For a moment Frost
thought that he was going to kiss her and her heart quickened. But he just kept looking at her, staring at
her eyes. Frost stayed silent, not sure
what, or who, he expected to find.
Finally he let go. He pushed her
off his lap and stood. “You’re right.”
“Pardon
me?”
“She’s
not there any more… Those aren’t her
eyes. A few times when we met in the
streets and other places…when you looked at me, when we kissed…” Skai
swallowed, still with his back to her.
He sounded like he was suppressing a strong emotion. “I saw her…in your eyes…I believed you were
her, because I saw her in your eyes.”
He turned around and Frost was shocked.
His eyes were cold again, and angry in a wild, desperate way. They burned with hatred and anger. He switched emotions so quickly… Well, Frost didn’t really blame him. He was trying to absorb so much information
in such a short time… There was a lot
to react to. “Where did she go?” He asked quietly. “What have you done with her?”
“I
don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Frost was speaking truthfully now.
“Where
is she?!! Tell me!!” Skai snarled at her. Frost didn’t know what to do. She really didn’t know what to do. She just looked at him.
“She
was never here…I tricked you, that’s all.”
“You
tricked me.” Skai repeated emotionlessly,
eyes still hard. Meloiya was gone…it
was just him and this creature now. Why
didn’t his confused emotions sort themselves out? There was nothing to be confused about any more. He hated Frost.
“Yes…I
tricked you.” Frost felt ill as she
said it. She dropped her eyes, she
wasn’t going to try to stand, or defend herself, no matter what Meloiya
said. She didn’t think she could stand
right now. So she lay there on the ground,
where Skai had dropped her, like a broken and discarded toy. It was a vulnerable position and Frost hated
being vulnerable. Skai leaned down to
look at her. She just laid her head on
the floor and stared emotionlessly at him.
A sharp crack echoed through the chamber as he slapped her face. Frost’s expression didn’t change a whit, and
neither did Skai’s. He stood back up
and stared down at her as she lay there and stared at nothing. She wasn’t particularly surprised and the
slap had hurt far less than other injuries she had received in her line of
work…so why did she have to try so hard to keep from crying? She was stronger than this…what had she
become?
“You,”
Skai said emotionlessly, all the anger was gone now and his defenses were
up. “Are a vile human being. A creature unfit to walk this Earth. If Aria is harmed in any way, I will kill
you, for real this time. You have
caused her so much pain and suffering…
I hope that the Black Dragon kills you slowly for your failure.” Frost sat numbly. She had known that he hated her, but to hate her for hurting
Aria… He truly was honorable.
“Aria
is fine.” Frost offered.
“It
doesn’t matter what you say. I don’t
believe a word out of your foul mouth.
I will see for myself. I suggest
you run if you want to live after failing the Black Dragon. He hates failures almost more than
traitors.” Skai said coldly before
opening up a Gate of his own and stepping through. Before it closed behind him, Frost could hear Aria demanding
somewhat indignantly to know where he had been. She had to keep an eye on him for Meloiya, but she would give
them time to have as happy a reunion as she could. Before she spoiled it with her appearance. For now…
Frost listlessly opened a gateway to her own apartment and stepped
through. She was so close and yet so
far. Her apartment was mere meters away
from that of Aria and Skai, but she knew that she would never, ever reach their
level, so close and yet so far. She
couldn’t feel anything…it was like she was no longer a person, just a frozen,
inanimate structure, like her namesake.
She truly was Frost. Everything
was so cold. Frost curled up in a ball
on the floor and stared at nothing. Why
couldn’t Meloiya have just let her die?
Note:
O.o;; oy this ends on a depressing note.
Umm…It get’s happier I guess…this is just an angsty section of a bigger
story…they really love each other….it’s all happy…really….^.^;;; I swear…
oh…and that Japanese business, “owari jyanai” means It’s not the end.
yeah…so…^^;;;;; special eh? There’s a few things I didn’t explain in here…maybe
I’ll write a better draft that encompasses stuff…