Divinitas

031 - Hints of Heaven and Hell

~ * ~

The ocean sparkled crystalline blue in the young morning light, glittering as if millions of facetted gems were embroidered into its surface. Crimson eyes breathed in the sight as if it were air, loving the sense of freedom and serenity.

The weekend at last! Even having to go to work for the first time in almost a month wasn’t a bad thing, Phoenix nodded to himself as he walked down the road leading into town. Definitely, getting out of the castle was all that mattered. Oh, it wasn’t all Aether’s fault, this time. The fiend had backed off, but he still guarded Phoenix like he was the king’s ransom, and positively spewed off waves of menace whenever anyone tried to come between him and Phoenix. But aside from Aether, the week had also held the dreaded announcement of end of semester exams, and that had caused Draco to start preaching to him how he had better study if he wanted to pass, etc, etc, etc. And if that wasn’t enough, before he quitted Aether this morning, the older boy had smiled charmingly and told Phoenix in a pleasant voice he had a lovely surprise for him when he came home. That just caused the hair on the back of Phoenix’s neck to stand on end. The boy didn’t even want to think of what awaited him back at the school, even if he was somewhat secretly happy that he and Aether had be able to clear up the conflict between them somewhat.

Perhaps, the only good thing to have come with the impending exams was that Draco had somewhat dropped his obsession with the Legend of Genesis. Though perhaps his lack of progress could have also been factor.

The fiery boy had not forgotten in the least what he had seen or experienced in the Heart of Genesis. But he had not mentioned any of it to anyone. He had not even questioned Aether about it. Perhaps because to voice them would be to realise them, and that was something Phoenix was not yet prepared for.

In his musings, it was some time before Phoenix noticed the slender figure walking ahead of him, carrying a thin black folder, his long silver braid swishing from side to side like a great tail. He walked with some urgency, though his gait was somewhat favoured, as if it pained him to do so.

“Hey, Gryps, I would have thought you would have had enough brains to figure out that horse back is the best way to get into town from here!” Phoenix called out, jogging a few steps to catch up to the slight boy.

Gryps shot an icy glare at Phoenix, to which Phoenix only grinned. “Are you blind, stupid, or just plain ignorant?”

“Oi, I was only trying to save you some time and effort,” Phoenix growled back. “There’s no need to act as if you have a stick shoved up your ass.”

The silver eyes became even narrower. “Are you mocking me?”

Phoenix blinked. Wasn’t it kind of obvious he was insulting him? “Err, yes?” the boy replied, somewhat confused.

“Forget it. You are an ignorant village idiot,” Gryps sneered. “Though I would have thought you of all people would know how painful it is to sit after certain activities I would rather not voice.”

The other boy just continued to look at Gryps as if he had grown another head.

“I sleep with my beloved Brother every night,” Gryps said slowly in a flat yet sarcastic voice, sounding out each word clearly. “Do I need to draw you a diagram?”

“Oh.”

A long uncomfortable silence followed in which the two continued walking down towards the seaside town.

“I wouldn’t know. The only time that has happened, I was drifting between life and death for two weeks afterwards,” Phoenix said finally. “Why are you going into town anyway?” he asked, feeling a change of topic was necessary.

“Library,” was the short cold reply. The hand holding the folder Gryps was carrying tightened its grasp.

“Doesn’t open until ten on a Saturday.”

Gryps shot a glance at Phoenix, somewhat surprised he would know such a fact. “Well, then, I’ll tag along with you until it opens,” he replied with a cold smile. “Perhaps a cup of your tea will poison me and I need not worry about the library at all.”

Phoenix shot a dirty look towards the smirking Ice Prince.



~ * ~

“You have always watched him, haven’t you. Watched him, followed him, wanted him, since before you even knew his name,” the Principal’s voice spoke up from beside Aether. There was a hint of amusement in his voice, just as there was a hint of a smile on his lips.

“And how, may I ask, do you know of such things?” Aether replied, eyes never leaving Phoenix’s back as he made his way down towards town. “We were not acquainted until after my misfortune, and by then, Phoenix was no longer part of my life.”

“I too have my independent resources, Aether. After all, with the current developments, I really should know more about your past with that boy, shouldn’t I? And before you even comment, yes, I am doubting you.”

Aether smirked. “Property of Heaven,” he breathed the words. “That was what he was. Phoenix Incendium, God of Fire, the Sacred Phoenix.” He pressed his palm against the cool glass of the window, as if he would reach out and touch the distant figure of Phoenix walking along side Gryps. “Principal, doubt, if you will. But you forget what I have endured these past millennia, and the one thing that has sustained me, the least of which was hope of having him come back to me. ‘Si tu amitto tuus somnium tum omnia is conficio’, Principal. Never forget that.”

The Principal smiled. “Really…” The man turned to leave Aether to his observation. “Oh, by the way, Casimir asked me to tell you that your little ‘surprise’ was delivered just now. Though I somewhat think it was a very bad idea to let her do the designs for it.”

The youth gave an elegant shrug of his shoulders, a playful smile on his lips. “I rather think we have the same tastes in clothing, actually.”

A receding deep laugh reached Aether’s ears as the Principal’s footsteps took him away from the watchful boy.



~ * ~

Ray had only arrived a few minutes ago at the café and was in the process of opening up when she spotting two figures walking towards her. She could positively see the sparks flying between them, and how one tried to trip the other every chance he got. It looked like the boy was trying to trip the girl with the long silver braid… Ray blinked. The guy was Phoenix, no doubt about it. No one had flaming red and gold hair like that, but the girl…

“Hey! Long time no see, Phoenix!” Ray called out, waving an arm in greeting. “Is that your girlfriend?” she grinned. “Is that why you’ve pretended to be sick for the last month?”

A sudden change came over the silver haired girl and she instantly sent a punch flying into Phoenix’s face before stalking over to Ray and leaving the poor boy sprawled on the ground.

“I. Am. A. Boy,” the girl seethed, halting in front of Ray and glaring down at her with molten silver eyes.

The auburn haired girl blinked her large glass green eyes. “Wow. So you are. You are really pretty though! And you do look like a girl… Are you sure you’re not a girl?”

A nerve in Gryps’ cheek twitched.

“Bastard… Just because you have a complex over being called a girl doesn’t mean you have to punch me for it,” Phoenix grow wal walking up to the couple rubbing his tender cheek.

“Oh, wait, wait! Is this Aether? Your boyfriend?”

“No!”

“As if I would ever go out with a dirty street rat like him.”

“Shut your mouth, Gryps, or I will dump your tea over your precious head. Then hopefully you’ll be scalded to death instead of being poisoned!” Phoenix retaliated, sparks flying from both their eyes and meeting head on in thin air.

“Boy!” Mrs Maiden’s disapproving voice rang out, cracking like a whip. “Be a gentleman and get the young lady her tea!”

Phoenix didn’t know whether to seethe at the prospect of serving Gryps like a lowly servant or laugh at the completely mortified look on his face. Being called a girl by two females in one day must have been too much for his poor little ego.

“What, may I ask, is all the commotion out here so early in the day?” Mrs Maiden inquired, giving Phoenix a stern gaze as she walked out of the café, leaving Phoenix to prepare the aforementioned tea.

“Ah…” Ray started, looking a little guilty. “We were just talking to Phoenix’s friend. She’s from the castle too.” Gryps gave her a death glare. “Oops, my bad. She’s a he,” Ray corrected, sticking out her tongue and smiling mischievously.

Phoenix returned, setting down a cup and teapot in front of Gryps grudgingly.

“Milk and sugar,” the silver haired boy said flatly.

“You’re pushing it, Gryps…” Phoenix growled, flatly refusing to move an inch more for the stuck up boy.

“The castle?” the owner of the café mused. “Do the children there still spread thmourmours of monsters eating up naughty little boys and girls?” Mrs Maiden inquired with a hint of a smile.

Both boys locked their eyes on her at her casual amused comment, their feud over the tea and the milk and sugar forgotten.

“Do you know something, madam?” Gryps quesed, ed, his voice controlled and polite, even if his outer appearance was cold as ice.

“Only the old folk tales and stories we sometimes tell to scare our children into staying away from your school,” the woman answered, laughter in her voice. “You might not know it, but the castle has been here much longer than this town. In fact, this town was built only a three or four hundred years ago, when the Castle of Genesis was opened as a private school. Many of the families moved here – transportation nowadays isn’t like how it use to be, you know – so their children could attend the school.

“But after a few years, students began to disappear. Just a few a year. They would go to the school for a year, and when the school year ended, they never came home. They were never seen again.

“Of course, after the first few years, people from this town stopped sending their children there. By that time however, the school was renowned throughthe the country, so it had no shortage of students, and it was converted to a boarding school, thus travelling was no longer as much of a concern. It’s said that no evidence was ever found which connected the disappearance of the children to the castle. Authorities even searched it on several occasions. Of course, this all happened before my time, so…” Mrs Maiden concluded with a slight shrug of her shoulders. “In any case, this town quickly became a tourist destination. It’s mostly filled by the older generation, so we don’t see too many young faces around here.”

Phoenix wanted to say it didn’t all happen before ‘her time’. There were still rumours running rampant within the school. Didn’t Ares warn Phoenix that there were rumours that last year’s scholarship student had disappeared? Hadn’t Draco said Gryps was sent here to investigate the disappearances in question?

“The castle… Do you know anything more about it?” Gryps asked before Phoenix could utter a word.

“My you’re taking this seriously… You do realise these are folk tales, now, don’t you? You won’t become all superstitious like some of the people are here now, will you?” When Gryps only continued with his unwavering gaze, Mrs Maiden shook her head with a smile and answered. “Hardly anything is known about it. There is no record of it before the town’s history. Only that it has always been inhabited and well maintained. The owner wouldn’t allow archaeologists to conduct a study on it, or open it to the public as a tourist attraction apparently.”

Gryps lapsed into a contemplative silence. The owner of the Castle of Genesis. Then there was no doubt left in Gryps’ mind just exactly what Aether was. He had on occasions eavesdropped on Aether’s conversations with their Principal, and their talk of centuries in time had confused him. Now, however, it made perfect sense. Aether wasn’t the Child of Soul. There was no such thing. Aether was the God of Soul from all those millennia hence passed who was stripped of his powers, just as it was said by MythMythology Professor when he had babbled on about the Legend of Genesis.

Why then, if Aether had always existed in this world, had he waited so many thousands of years? Would not Gryps’ soul, and the souls of the other Elemental Gods, have been reincarnated before now? And if not, then now, when Aether had all four in his grasp, why had he still not acted? The Gate of Eternity was right there. Yes, it was cursed, but it would remain cursed until they were given back their hands, so how could it affect anything?

Something was still missing. Timing? Something with themselves? Ari’s would know. Ari who had regained all his memories of the past. Ari who would never tell him, and whom Gryps would never lower himself to ask. If only he knew how much time he had left. Strange how he suddenly wanted to remain human.

It was only the appearance of a certain librarian walking into his library that roused Gryps from his frustrated thoughts. Dropping a few coins onto the table, he left without another word, his folder clasped tightly in his hand. Whether or not Gryps heard the insults Phoenix belted out to him about being a stingy creep for giving only a few cents in tips, the silver haired boy gave no sign of it.



~ * ~

The librarian gave no notice to Gryps as the boy entered, his cold eyes quickly settling on the man in his crisp white suit. Without hesitation, Gryps walked up to the desk and placed the folder in front of the blue-white haired man.

Calm storm grey eyes ran over the folder, following them up to gaze into Gryps’ icy silver ones. A hint of a triumphant smile appeared on the man’s lips.

“I had thought you had abandoned your mission.”

“I had. I’ve recently found new reason to continue, that is all.”

No more words passed between the two before Gryps turned and exited as silently has he had entered. The librarian watched the door close until the thinnest seam of light was cut off before he turned his attention to the folder Gryps had left at his disposal.

It was very fortunate that the God of Air’s soul was split into twins and that one had murdered their sister and attempted to murder his other half. Very fortunate indeed that the one remaining twin was left so very much alone that he was willing to take up this little mission under the pretence of gaining a pardon for his supposed crime.

A rare smile tugged at the corners of the librarian’s lips. How else, if not for these fortunate event, would they have been able to gain such intelligence of Aether’s movements from the Child of Air himself? No need to mention the irony of all of this. A God of the Chikyuu helping those of Ten. Well, if only he knew.

Clever of Aether to use Genesis to create a kekkai to prevent them from entering, to use human scarifies to give Genesis both the power to create the kekkai and to retain its consciousness. Clever also to use his fortune to keep the official authorities at bay.

But not so clever to have employed the services of Jigoku. Those of Heaven always watched those of Hell, even if they did not bother to watch those of Earth.

The sound of the old creaky door opening announced the entrance of a visitor, one which was of no threat to the librarian since the latter did not bother himself to glance up from his examination of the information Gryps had left him.

“You seem very pleased,” a deep voice spoke up as the newcomer surveyed his somewhat dingy surroundings.

“Yes. We’re moving.”

Dusky blue eyes smiled as the man raised his left eyebrow, the silver ball sliding on the ring threaded through it. “Oh? Well, I will have to say my goodbyes…”

~ * ~

http://cruelangel.net/divinitas