http://clampfix.fanworks.net/x-fix/shatter1.txt </head><body><pre>Standard Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me, I simply borrow them for my own personal amusement. (Where’d my handcuffs go?!) Their souls and very being is actually owned/copyrighted/created by/etc CLAMP. Warnings: There’s no lemonish stuff and there’s only yaoi if you look for it. (There will probably be yaoi in the next chapter though.) There is blood though in the start though. --- Shattered Realities --- The air is heavy with the smell of dust and death; the sun looks like a large blood droplet hanging in the orange sky. It casts a vaguely warm glow over the piles of rubble and the bodies scattered among the horizon. It’s silent now, and I can almost hear the Earth’s heart begin to beat again when a harsh cry shatters the silence - - shatters my reality. /What?/ My memories and what remains of my mind slowly comes into focus. I seem to be on top of the Tokyo Tower, or at least what’s left of it. Nothing more than a few battered beams, shards of glass and some broken bodies soaking the crimson ground. A large crack right down the middle of where the Tower had stood when a Dragon of power had coiled into the air - - and the Kekkai broke - - like she had broken.... The last few months hit me with enough force that I find myself on my knees. I-I can see it..... Her pale body, tangled and bleeding.... Screaming.... Someone screaming to stop.... Who?.... The laughter then..... And the noise of her death.... Broken look in violet eyes.... Oh - Oh My God. Kotori.... My beloved sister. Please forgive me. And coming back again and again - over memory of memory - that lone sobbing voice, those lost purple orbs, the soft bleeding skin - Kamui. That thought snaps me harshly out of my reverie. That and the fact that my knees feel a little damp.... Just what the hell am I kneeling in anyways? A glance to the right answers that. I think.... I think I’m going to be sick. Very sick. Very violently. “Kamui?” God, is that -my- voice? Sounds like I just tried to gargle a few rough stones. I watch trembling fingers, my fingers I remind myself, reach out and brush across a white cheek. “Kamui.” He’s been gone for a while I think, he’s already cold to the touch. The Shinken’s handle gleams at me from the setting sun’s rays, plunged hilt deep into that almost pathetically skinny chest.... Well.... Kamui. Your wish came true after all. I’m back. I close his eyes gently as two thoughts simultaneously cross my mind. /Where am I going to bury him?/ /And how am I going to get that sword out of him so I can slit my wrists?/ I lift him up easily, he’s never been exactly a heavy boy, and begin to slowly walk, well stumble rather, down the ruins of the Tower. Slipping on something right now could be most unpleasant. Finally, after some brief sliding on the random pieces of glass decorating my descent, I make it to the broken ground. The smell of blood is much stronger down here, with all of the corpses.... Or maybe it’s because Kamui’s blood is soaking deeper into my shirt. /I will not throw up, I will not throw up, Iwillnotthrowup..../ So much for will power. Gagging a little still, my eyes alight on.... Oh, you’re kidding me. A sakura tree. Well, ain’t this peachy. The Sakurazukamori would be proud to know the Kamui himself is being buried under a sakura tree. Or maybe he wouldn’t give a damn. Well, it’s a tree. It’ll do. I call a little upon the destructive powers now at my disposal and blast a shallow crater under the tree. Hoping I didn’t damage the roots, I lay the remains of one of the last few people who I held dear into the shallow burial plot.... I’m almost positive I should be doing something here. Saying a prayer, crying.... -something-. As the son of a priest, I should be doing something. I sit there. Well, I think I'll bury him now. As I’m about to drop the first handful of dirt, a thought strikes me. /The Sword..../ I still need to get the sword. I look down at Kamui’s ghostly pale form, the only color gracing him is the droplets of red that have clung to his body. /Ick./ You deserve better than this, Kamui. I continue to sit, covering him handful-by-handful. There’s probably a faster way to do this, like there was something I should still be saying, but it slips my mind. I feel a little calmer now, burying him. Maybe I’m going into shock. Hope not, I still need to find a glass shard big enough to ram through my heart. This is getting boring though. I stretch out my newfound powers again, trying to locate the other Dragons of Earth. My so-called allies. Satsuki was long gone. The Hidden Shrine maiden had seen to that. Strange, she hadn’t seemed the horribly violent type. Then again, none of us did. Yuuto was still alive, somewhere near Beast’s remains. I don’t think that’s going to last long; the priest, Sora or whatever, had put up a helluva a fight. Our local pretty boy was not in good shape. And Nataku.... is coming this way. I frown at the dirt pile I’m building. If that damn thing knows what’s good for it, it won’t come near me. I still have to pay it back for my father. Now where’s that big guy? Oh, right. His aura had vanished about the same time as that little Inagami master’s. Maybe they had died in some sort of lovely romantic, tragic way.... /That was sickeningly sweet,/ a familiar voice growled at me. /Shut up,/ I told it cheerfully. On top of everything else, I did <i>not</i> need to be having a conversation with myself. Particularly.... that.... part of myself..... Alright, there’s the Sakurazukamori and - what the hell?! /Dragon of Heaven,/ The voice hissed as if it had just stepped in something vile. /I’m not listening to you anymore,/ I reminded it firmly as I tried to grasp exactly -what- was going on in the assassin’s head. He had obviously injured the Sumeragi enough to shatter the Kekkai, but I could already feel a strong pulse behind the Dragon of Heaven’s life. Whatever sort of shape he had been in, he seemed to be fine now. Well, it’s not like he’s a real threat anymore. I allow a cold smile slide onto my lips. Let the assassin have his fun. /Dragon of H-/ /Oh get off of it,/ The smile fades quickly as I toss more dirt onto Kamui. /I told you, I’m not listening to you anymore. You lost your power over me. Go pester someone else. The assassin could use an annoying voice, I’m sure./ /I am you./ /Shut up./ /You liked it./ /I did -not-./ /Did too,/ It snickers. /You enjoyed every blood-soaked minute of it./ /You enjoyed that. Not me./ /I am you./ /Shut up!/ /My, what an intelligent retort./ I resisted the urge to tell the voice to do something quite atomically impossible for a disembodied voice to do. /I thought so. You needn’t deny it anymore./ /I did -not- enjoy it! Any of it! Kotori..../ /You may not have liked whom you killed but you enjoyed the act. Plunging that sword..... That feel of raw -power-...../ /N-/ /Don’t. You liked it. You liked being the one in control of your own fate for a change. You liked being the irresponsible one. You liked being ‘special’. Being the Dark Kamui. Even if you were only a reflection of his soul, you were still ‘special’. You were the darkness. You still are./ /I am not! And I didn’t like it!/ /Then why didn’t you stop?/ /I wasn’t strong enough-/ /Liar. You could have stopped at any time. “Only humans can decide human fate”?/ “Kamui?” Ugh. Well, at least it had managed to shut up that other voice in my head. “Fuuma.” I say, sounding a little more sullen than I ought to have. I notice then I’m quite done burying Kamui - the pile of dirt is threatening to reach midway on the trunk. “Fuuma,” It sounds uncertain of the word. My senses light up as I hear it shuffle closer. “What are you doing?” “What does it matter.” Not wanting my back to my father’s murderer any longer, I stand and face Nataku. It really isn’t looking very good. There are large gashes decorating it’s pale skin; that deep one in it’s side looks particularly nasty. Work of one very good wind master, I’d bet. But are those burns too? The being moves closer yet, eyes downcast and I fight the urge to move away from this approaching smell of blood. “Fuuma?” It murmurs softly. I let out a long, clenched sigh. A sign of my growing frustration towards this pitiful being. “What -is- it, Nataku?” “Can I die in your arms?” ---- Two graves under the sakura tree. My dearest friend next to my father’s murderer. Well. How nice. I sit, and hardly notice when Yuuto’s aura finally blinks out for good. The sun has set and I watch the stars come out, twinkling over this mass human graveyard. I hadn’t realized it before, but I am really tired. The fight with Kamui hadn’t been as easy as I had hoped, and this whole ordeal had been very emotionally draining. I let out a long sigh, relaxing my head against the sakura tree’s trunk. Sleep overtakes me before I can stop it. But I don’t dream. --- “Mmph.” I crack open an eye and am greeted with a bright morning sun. I reach up and pull the blanket tighter around myself, pushing my face into the pillow. /Now waitaminute..../ I start and sit up suddenly. I’m greeted by one large green eyes with it’s milky twin. “You’re awake.” The Sumeragi says mildly. After what seems like an eternity of blinking at each other, I find my voice. “Where am I?” “Seishirou-san’s apartment.” I blink again. Maybe I’m dreaming. “How can it still be standing?” “Good real-estate investments,” A voice from another room calls in. The Sumeragi’s lips twitch slightly upwards. “He made sure it was far enough from most of the Kekkais that it would still probably be standing after the promised day.” “I see.” I let my head thump back hard on the pillow. So after the end of the world, it’s just me, the assassin and the Sumeragi. Why do I feel like such a fifth wheel? ---- Note: Yes, this is only a chapter one ^_^; When will chapter 2 be writ? When Fuuma comes running back in my head as he tends to do. *_* Much thanks to Cho-chan and Kotori-chan for pre-reading this. (Kotori-chan: “Aaaargh! You damn Fuuma otaku!!! Why is my Kamui dead?!”) ^_^;;; Sabine http://members.spree.com/sip1/kamui99/ <-- Home of the X personality quiz, 10 things to do when stuck in an elevator with a CLAMP chara and the only known Fuuma Shrine on the net.</pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>