Divinitas

049 - Waiting for the Moon

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\"Hmm… You\'re still here? I thought you would have left without me by now, silly Aether,\" a girl\'s playfully repriming voice invaded through the contemplative silence.

The God of Soul turned from gazing out at the darkened landscape of Ten and smirked at his younger sister. \"Would I ever do such a cruel thing to my beloved Casimir?\"

Casimir rolled her bright aqua eyes. \"So, what is your excuse this time for staying so long in Ten and neglecting your duties in Chikyuu?\"

\"I\'m playing a game with Deus, Casimir. Something like a bet with half my soul on the line. So of course I am going to stay for the duration of such an important bet,\" Aether replied with a mocking smile.

\"Oh? I would have thought he would want you to spend the rest of eternity in his bed if you lost, rather than going after your unfeeling soul,\" the girl said flatly, crossing her arms in front of her and taking on a most displeased stance. \"So? What is this bet?\"

Aether gave her an evil grin. \"To make me desire something enough to sell half of my soul for.\" The God of Soul turned back to looking out over the balcony of his room, smiling at something down below, lit by soft enchanted light that radiated from the very surface of the palace. \"So I decided to play along.

\"There\'s a boy, a Child of Fire, who hates me with all his heart and soul… I named him Phoenix,\" the God of Soul said with a smirk. \"I\'ll play with him, and see if I can\'t entice him to have a change of heart. To change his Dream and Wish of becoming the God of Fire to simply wanting my acceptance and need. Quite a challenge, don\'t you think? It\'ll keep me amused and Deus believing he\'s winning. I think I would like to see what it is like, to see the breaking of one\'s Wish and Dream.\"

The young girl stalked onto the darkened balcony and whacked Aether on the back of hisd. \d. \"Idiot,\" she stated before stabbing a finger at her brother\'s chest where his heart was. \"Do you think it\'s that easy to change a person\'s feelings? That aside, what you plan is downright wrong. But I guess, you lost your morals along with the rest of your emotions, you heartless bastard.\"

Aether merely smiled, taking Casimir\'s hand and pulling it away from himself. \"Look down there. The one who is with the Tenshi with the ashen wings,\" the God of Soul gestured, eyes once again locked on Phoenix far down below in the night. \"He\'s the one I want.\"

Casimir started, eyes frozen on the boy with the flaming hair dressed in pure white trimmed with blood red. It wasn\'t the sight of the boy that had surprised her so much. Yes, the boy was beautiful in his own way. One could almost see the aura of passion radiating from him as he moved fluidly and with ease as he danced with the weapon in his hands. No, it was the words Aether spo spoken that had shocked her so much.

I want…

Slowly, the girl shifted her gaze to her brother, pulling her hand out of his hand. The God of Soul never noticed. His amethyst eyes were riveted to the boy below, a very contented smile gracing his lips.

A stab of something akin to fear knifed through Casimir\'s being, followed immediately by a spark of hope. Somehow she knew. Knew without a doubt in the entire three realms.

Aether would lose his bet with Deus, the God of Ten.



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Air swiftly parted before the blade Phoenix welded, twirling with precision from one hand to the other. The double bladed weapon came to a halt as the boy finished his choreographed movements, sweat dripping from his chin and soaking through his clothes.

Ashura smiled at the boy as Phoenix turned his intense crimson eyes on him. \"Good. Very good. You\'ve finally become familiarised with your weapon. You now control it with as much ease as you do your own arms and legs. I\'m very pleased, Phoenix. Such progress in only a week.\"

\"Then teach me how to use it in conjunction with my flames,\" Phoenix replied without missing a beat, breath heaving. \"The moon is already half full.\" Ashura raised a dark ashen eyebrow. \"So it is. But did you notice it is already high in the night skd thd the stars twinkle along side it? Phoenix, it is late. You have been training since dawn. You need to rest your body.\"

\"To hell with my body, Ashura!\" Phoenix almost shouted back, his double ended sword pointed unwaveringly at the Tenshi\'s face. \"You said I only have until the moon is full before I must be able to defeat every other Child of Fire here. I have one week left!\" Desperation and rage was shining out of his blood red eyes. Eyes that held all too much blood lust, that desired beyond reasoning to become the God of Fire.

It was clear now to Ashura that Phoenix had mon min mind than simply becoming the God of Fire. His declaration of wanting nothing to do with Chikyuu was not altogether true. There was one more thing he wanted from his birthplace before he tossed his past into oblivion. And that was the destruction of the one who had indirectly placed him in his current position: Aether, the God of Soul.

\"Phoenix, how do you think it is possible for you to advance so far with your sword skills in only one week?\" Ashura asked lightly, holding the boy\'s burning eyes with his steady smoky blue gaze. \"When we started, you did not even know how to hold the weapon, but now you have mastered it.\"

The boy frowned, glaring back. It wasn\'t the response he had expected from Ashura.

\"The Divine Beast of Fire has already chosen you, Phoenix. That is why your skills have risen so rapidly. It wants you, Phoenix, and no other Child of Fire. You need only to want to win under the full moon within a week\'s time and the Divine Beast of Fire will make it so.\" The Tenshi stepped closer to the boy, firmly pushing aside the weapon and resting each hand on Phoenix\'s shoulders. \"Do you know why it wants you as its vessel, Phoenix?\" Ashura asked softly, eyes holding Phoenix\'s forcefully.

\"Why?\"

\"For the same reason the God of Soul wants you. Because of your passion and desire to live. Because you have an unwavering Wish and Dream which depends on no one but yourself. You will never fade, Phoenix, and that is why you are so attractive.\"

Scarlet eyes narrowed, and the boy roughly shrugged Ashura\'s hands off his shoulders. \"The last thing I want is to be attractive to that sick God of Soul. I would be content and happy if I never crossed paths with him again.\" The boy turned his back on Ashura, making to head back towards the palace. \"Besides, the Gold of Soul doesn\'t truly want me. He can\'t even empathise with his subjects, much less ever love them.\" And, the boy added silently as he began walking towards to nearest entrance, no one would ever truly want me to begin with… because I\'m just some worthless child that not even my own parents wanted.

\"Phoenix,\" the Tenshi called out after the boy. \"I admire and respect you very much. Don\'t ever think no one wants or loves you, because I do on both accounts.\"

If Phoenix acknowledged the words, he made no indication of having done so. Instead, he continued without pause through the doorway, disappearing into the well-lit halls of the palace.

Ashura let out a soft chuckle, stretching out his stiff ashen wings and looking upwards with a knowing smile. It was impossible to miss the golden form of Aether watching from above, his intense violet eyes like two gems that pierced even the darkest depths. How unfortunate that those eyes could not see into his own soul, or he might have seen his own undoing blooming within that emptiness as his contented smile bloomed on his lips.

The Tenshi watched, smiling, as the God of Soul turned gracefully and stepped back inside, leading his sister by the hand to meet his so called \'new toy.\' No, it wasn\'t unfortunate Aether was so blind. Rather, it was very fortunate for him, because it made it all that much easier for Ashura to manipulate them both to dance on the end of his strings.



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To say Phoenix was irked was an understatement. Maybe overly pissed off was a better description. Firstly, he felt cheated by Ashura\'s refusal to teach him anymore this evening, dte hte his mind constantly screaming for him to learn more, to learn faster. He had long ago accepted his cursed gift. Better to use them for his own gain than to shun them and let fate lead him to crash head first back into Chikyuu.

Secondly, it was Ashura\'s comment about the God of Soul desiring him. What bullshit was that? The God of Soul had ignored him for his whole existence up until how. He had refused to heed his begging pleads when he had most needed some divine intervention. He had begged Aether through prayer to save him yet he had left him to his suffering. The mere idea of Aether wanting him now, when his life finally held some semblance of goodness, maddened him. It made him want to scream. Now? Now! When he finally did not need that cursed God of Soul?!

The hate welled up within Phoenix, smouldering in his eyes. He had a lot of nerve, that

Aether. I want you, Phoenix…

Phoenix\'s hand around his weapon tightened until he could feel the grip of the handle cut into his flesh. His teeth grinded together hard enough to make his jaw ache. Liar. Aether was such a liar. His past actions had condemned him as such and nothing could ever change that, and most certainly not a few words and brief falsely intimate touches.

His feet halted underneath him.

Amethyst eyes smiled at him.

He stood before Phoenix. In all his golden perfection. Contrasting so vividly against his ebony clothing trimmed with royal purple. Aether was like a beautiful dark gem against all the purity of the white palace walls, something to be desired and feared.

\"I\'ve been watching you, Phoenix,\" the God of Soul\'s seductive voice breathed, caressing Phoenix\'s senses and sending an unpleasant shiver racing down his spine. \"Your skills with your sword are hypnotic to watch…\"

Phoenix balled up his intense hatred and chaotic emotions, refusing to acknowledge the whisper of desperate need deep in the dark corner of his soul. He forced his legs to move, to put one foot in front of the other. It seemed like an eternity, crossing the distance of the few feet that laid between Aether and himself. His heart pounded painfully in his chest when he finally paused beside the God of Soul, keeping his eyes firmly on some unseen destination before him.

\"Watching me?\" Phoenix asked in a voice that was a barely restrained scream. \"What the fuck do you find so interesting now, my Lord? You\'ve had sixteen years to watch. To watch me suffer, to watch me scrape together a pitiful existence in a world that despised me. Tell me, I would really like to know. What do you find so fucking interesting now, oh Lord of Chikyuu?\"

The blade of the double ended sword snapped up, scratching the flawless skin covering Aether\'s throat. The God of Soul only smiled as the blazing crimson eyes finally locked with his heartless amethyst ones. They were accusing. Screaming. Crying.

I will never forgive you!

Aether lifted his hand to the blade pressed up against his neck, running his thumb down along the blade\'s edge until a line of bright red welled forth.

\"Your hate for me. Your intense desire to become the God of Fire and kill me,\" Aether answered with a darkly contented smile. He extended his hand forward suddenly, brushing his bleeding thumb against the boy\'s trembling lips, staining them brightly with his blood. \"So let me give you a taste for which you desire; my Body and my Blood.\"

Scarlet eyes widened, shocked by Aether\'s actions. The boy flew backwards, almost stumbling in his haste to break the contact.

The reaction within himself wasn\'t what Phoenix had expected. Something wild leapt into existence with the taste and warmth of Aether\'s blood on his lips, and worked into a frenzy when accompanied by those suggestive words. His own blood throbbed within his veins, aching to spill more of that crimson liquid. Aching to feel the God\'s flesh burn against his own.

The God of Soul smiled again, taking slow drawn out steps towards the boy who had pressed himself up against the far wall, trying to distance himself from Aether as much as possible. \"You want me, don\'t you? You hate me because you want my acceptance. Because I have neglected to acknowledge you up until now.\" Aether stopped, standing only a step away from Phoenix\'s trembling form. \"Well, we are alone now, are we not? And you have my complete attention. Don\'t you want to do something about it, Phoenix…?\"

Crimson eyes tore themselves away from Aether\'s dark violet ones, away from the overly appealing suggestion, away from the lies that shimmered unchecked in that coldly beautiful amethyst.

Look at me. Always look at me. Never look away.

Aether\'s body faltered. It was like their first meeting. Where this boy\'s determined words from his heart and soul had penetrated his own without his permission. They froze and shocked Aether just as much, these words that rang through his mind now. Only… they were his own. They had been spoken by his own heart and soul. And the intensity of them shocked him.

Unbidden, Aether\'s hand lifted and gently took Phoenix\'s chin, bringing the boy\'s unwilling gaze back to his amethyst eyes.

For an eternity the two stared at one another, unmoving. Deep violet eyes searched the crimson ones relentlessly, holding them in place with an unseen force. It was impossible to comprehend, just what Aether was searching for in those fiery depths. Just something. Something that attracted Aether, something that he needed, desperately.

\"Let go of me.\" Soft, those words. Yet they were stronger than a demand. They were a threat.

The spell was broken. There was nothing to see in those scarlet eyes except pure hate. Aether closed his eyes and reopened them slowly, letting a wicked smile spread over his perfect lips. His hand released Phoenix\'s chin, withdrawing gracefully from the boy.

Crushing his teeth together, Phoenix took the chance to push himself away from the wall and walk swiftly past the God of Soul. To run, to kill, these two things warred with one another within him. It took all of his effort just to walk steadily away.

\"Phoenix,\" Aether called out quietly after him, the pleasure all too audible in his voice. \"I do want you. I\'ll keep your soul forever. Just lose and die.\"

The boy froze in his step, his mind threatening to lose control of his body. He was barely aware of his own lips moving, of his breath passing the single word through them.

\"Never.\"

Aether\'s smile never faltered as Phoenix resumed his forced departure and disappeared from view. The God of Soul turned and address one of the many pillars that held up the arcs of the curved sparkling white ceiling. \"Beautiful, isn\'t he? I love his eyes, how they\'re the colour of blood,\" Aether commented, smirking.

Casimir stepped out from behind the marble column, staring at the place through which Phoenix had left. She felt her heart being crushed. Everything would change. The chance of it being for the better, her spark of hope, was being smothered by unavoidable defeat.

\"You\'ll never have him by his own free will,\" Casimir said quietly, never looking at her brother. \"He hates you. He wants to kill you. You\'ll never be able to change his Wish and Dream.\"

Aether laughed, placing a patronising hand on top of Casimir\'s head of violet curls. \"I know. That\'s what makes all of this so interesting and fun. He amuses me to no end, Casimir, that boy.\"

Aqua eyes narrowed. The girl angrily slapped away Aether\'s hand. \"You don\'t get it, do you, Aether?\" Casimir cried. \"You are going to do anything to have him. Can\'t you see that in yourself? You really want him!\"

The God of Soul merely blinked at her before bursting out laughing again. \"Don\'t be silly, Casimir. This is a game, nothing more. You worry too much, little sister. I may find him pretty and amusing, but I won\'t sell half my soul for him. Really.\"

The only thing Casimir could do was stare at Aether. He really, really didn\'t get it. He couldn\'t see the obvious, that which was plain as daylight to the rest of the world. Pain rippled through Casimir\'s heart. It hurt, to see how unfeeling and cold her brother had become, that he no longer even knew his own heart and soul.

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