Black Knight Dark Queen Ch20

Chapter Twenty: Bottle of Ink

Shigure sighed as he took off his shoes at the door.  No leads, aside from finding Kyo's friendship bracelet at that one place.  But at least they had a bit more time to figure things out before Akito was brought into the matter, which, although he loved her dearly, he wasn't sure if he wanted.

He stopped pondering at the smell of Tohru's cooking.  He sniffed the air with a hint of a smile on his face.  At least she was home safe and sound.  It would not do to have their little flower trampled.  And if she was home, her friend and his butler were also probably back as well.  Maybe there was the chance of some good news as well.

He walked towards the kitchen, just to see if Kyo had somehow managed to slip past everyone and return, but he only saw Tohru and Yuki, who was helping get plates ready to set the table.  "Hello," he greeted them both.  "How was your day?"

Tohru looked up from stirring something in a pan, wiping some moisture from her forehead from the steaming vegetables inside some kind of sauce.  "Oh, hello Shigure!  We had a lot of fun helping Ciel find some new clothes, and then we went to a movie about little people.  It was really fun!"

Shigure had to smile at her enthusiasm, even if he knew it wasn't quite as upbeat as usual.  He had to give her points, though, for looking at the bright side.  "And how is Ciel doing?"

"My master is a bit on the tired side tonight," Sebastian said from behind Shigure, causing the mortal man to jump ever so slightly.  "I came down to see if there was anything I could do to help in the meal preparations."

Tohru smiled at the offer.  She knew he was very efficient, but she needed to keep busy and wasn't sure if she'd be able to do that if he stepped in and helped.  Instead, she checked a pot.  "The soup for Ciel is almost ready," she answered.  "Maybe you could get one of those small crocks?"  She indicated the ceramic containers on the china shelf.

Sebastian moved smoothly past the writer and retrieved the item in question, placing it near Tohru so that she could access it with ease.  "Is there anything else that I might be of assistance with?"

She shook her head, indicating that Yuki was already setting the table.  "I'm almost done," she admitted as she filled the crock.  "Do you want to eat with us or with Ciel?"

"I will take my meal after I am sure the young master has eaten and is resting," the butler replied.

She nodded, not surprised by his response.  "Shigure, could you please get out the soy sauce?"

The writer came unglued from the doorframe and went to help get the condiment requested.  "I wonder if anyone's had a chance to read the newspaper besides myself," he mused.  "I noticed a report of two people found dead in the area earlier this morning.  No foul play was reported, but it is a bit uncanny that nothing seems to have been wrong with them when they died."

Tohru shivered a bit at this news and resisted the urge to glance towards Sebastian.

The butler gazed intently at the writer for a fraction of a second, filing away this new little tidbit.  It sounded like demon doing and he would have to investigate it as soon as possible, without raising the suspicions of those in the household who did not know his true nature.  But, also for Tohru's delicate state, he would keep this even from her, though he rather thought that she would make her own guesses as to what had happened to the two poor deceased.

Tohru placed the last item on Ciel's tray.  "It's ready," she said and moved to bring the tray over to Sebastian, but he smoothly intercepted her before she'd gone more than a step and took the tray from her.

"I'll take this to the young master, and, perhaps, I will join you downstairs once he is comfortable," he intoned, more curious about this reported event, though he was also eager to report it to the boy earl as well.  But even if it was not sanctioned by his master, he would investigate it thoroughly just to make sure it was not somehow connected to their current case.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Lau stared dreamily up at the twilight sky.  His body was slightly twisted from where he'd been unceremonially dumped by the time vortex.  Ran Mao had been more lucky and had landed on her feet, graceful as a cat and always on the alert.  Sure that their position was secure, she moved to her lover's side and urged him to stand.

He rolled to his feet in a slightly less graceful than usual movement and had to steady himself.  He felt slightly off kilter after having been through the vast expanse of time for however long it had lasted, but he brushed off his long sleeves and folded his arms inside them.  "Shall we explore, Ran Mao?"  He smiled mischievously at his companion.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

It was dark, like he'd been plunged into the very heart of a giant bottle of black ink.  It was thick all around him, continually drowning him despite his attempts to break free of the viscous obscurity of his trapped mind.

He had no control and he knew it.  Every time he tried to escape, sickly green energy crackled around him, sapping away his strength like a giant magnet on steroids.  He could do nothing but lay there, panting like he'd run the world's longest marathon every time he tried to push against his mental cage.

A small swirling of the poisonous energy appeared just out of his peripheral vision, growing slowly in intensity as a dark shadow walked in the middle, coming closer and closer, green flames licking up and down the dark outline.  He couldn't close his eyes against its intensity and felt like he'd branded by the sickly hue burning into his retinas.  He cried out in pain as the woman laughed, but he could not move his arms to block out the light, any more than he could close his eyes.

Tessa laughed lightly.  "Try as you might, it won't change a thing, you know," she said almost soothingly, gently caressing his immobile arm with one light finger.  She was well aware of his attempts to break from the mental bindings she'd placed around him.  "Not that it matters in the end, because you will eventually tire and give up.  You've put up a good fight so far but don't you just feel worn out?"

Kyo glared at her from behind his eyes.  It was true that he couldn't move at all, not while she was there.  And her gentle taunts didn't help matters.  But he was not about to give up the fight, no matter how fruitless it had been so far.  He knew that if he gave up, he'd be completely swallowed up by her magic and would then cease to exist as anything more than an empty shell full of memories that she could use as she chose.

She laughed again.  "Why are your lot always so stubborn?  I told you it doesn't really matter how hard you try.  Eventually you will fail.  Already I am beginning to see the inner workings of your mind, your most precious and dear thoughts and memories.  Already you are giving away everything about you and those you love, and you don't even realize it, nor is there anything you can do to stop it."

She moved closer to him, pulling him upright by his shirt and stared intently into his eyes.  "So close now," she almost purred.  "So close.  I can sense through you what your body senses around it.  I can see images of people and places flashing through your thoughts. I can feel your raw anger and know just how badly you wish you could break free from this enslavement and "teach me a lesson".  Wouldn't that be amusing?"

Kyo struggled even more inside his mind, but it was useless, like a caterpillar trapped inside a chrysalis of concrete.  No matter how hard he tried, he could not break free from the magical bonds around him.  He didn't even have the luxury of spitting of trying to insult her with spoken words.  All he could do was glare at her, which was really hard with her gaze firmly locked with his, like she was drilling into his brain.

Tessa let him sit in several more, long, uncomfortable moments before she broke away, tracing her finger across his lips.  "Soon now," she half smirked, then pinched his cheek like he was only six years old.  "And it will all be over.  Enjoy the remaining time you have.  Try not to exhaust yourself too much."  She laughed as she turned from him and walked away, her green flames trailing after her, shadows filling up the darkened corners of his mind.

Inside, Kyo wept.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hana stared out of her window as she held the phone to one ear.  Something was still off and had been for two days now.  She didn't know what it was, but she was fairly certain that it somehow had something to do with their new exchange student, and with Tohru's unexpected visitors.

She suspected Tessa was up to no good, mainly because of her sneaking around, but there was also the hint of something sinister about her.  Again, Hana wasn't entirely sure about this.  The girl was just about as good, if not slightly better, at shielding herself than Hana was, which was partly why Hana had allowed her own shielded electrical waves to wander lose at Shigure's house.  

Why she'd felt a need to leave something so obvious behind, though only obvious to those who could sense auras and knew hers, she wasn't sure, but she felt certain it had something to do with Kyo's disappearance, of which no word had been heard, though it had been pretty easy to pick up on from Tohru.

"Hana?  Hey, you there?"  Arisa Uotani's voice came over the line, bringing her back from her thoughts.

She nodded.  "Yes, I'm here.  I have a feeling that Tohru may be in danger, though.  I can't quite put a finger on why though.  But it has something to do with Kyo's absence."

She thought about the two visitors from England.  She was fairly sure they were telling the truth on that end, though she was also just as sure that they were not from this time period as well.  Ciel's clothes, though having fit perfectly into the Lolita fashion, was far too authentic.  Not to mention the scent of time on both him and his butler, the same scent she'd picked up on several months back when Tohru and Kyo had gone missing for a little longer than usual during a drenching downpour.

"So, you think something bad's gonna happen or what?"  Arisa didn't mince words when it came to Tohru.

Hana shook her head.  "I don't know.  I just feel that something isn't right and it bothers me.  We need to be ready for whatever might happen."  The phone crackled for a moment with the intensity of her emotional energy.

"Guess we'll have to start hanging out with her more," Arisa finally responded, once the crackling stopped.  "Good thing I have the next few days off from work.  But don't worry.  I won't let a think happen to Tohru."

Hana could imagine her friend fingering her lead pipe, often carried around, even if hidden, a remnant from her Yankee days.  Neither of them would, wittingly, allow anything to happen to Tohru, but at least she now had someone else who knew what was going on.  Now if only she knew why her friend was hanging out with a demon.