Welcome to Gaia! ::

It looks interesting... Post more!! It has piqued my interest.

Yes, please do clarify that. X3 Sorry for posting in the wrong place! Different places I go to have different guidelines for a short story, so... Eheh it can get somewhat confusing.

Yeah I tend to use a lot of parenthesis... And dashes. I try not to but I can't seem to figure out a different way to put stuff like that in there. X3

This chapter isn't meant to be one of the most descriptive things, but next chapter will be better (I hope?)

Oh my gosh i broke my block within one week of coming down with it! Frozen by Within Temptation must be MAGIC!! <33

With this chapter, I shall pass the 2000 word mark. Worship me and my many worded might!

Ahem yes i get the feeling I didn't get many of the points that I wanted to across about Xauc/Cyrii/any situation I think I intended to. I need to write more.

ETA: The italics tags are glitched! i know i closed all of the tags, it looks fine on the other forum! gonk Why is this! Most of the stuff after the letter isn't supposed to be italicized. Please disregard?? I wonder why the italic tags did this to me. emo

ETA 2: I forgot to make the first letter size 24. Silly me. *fix*
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I awoke the next morning on the floor. Well, of course it was my turn to sleep on the floor, but Cyrii could have at least woken me up and asked nicely...

I got up and stretched. They really need to put another bed in here, I thought.

"Mornin', Xauc," Cyrii said, not looking up (as if he had to) from the sheet of paper that he was running his fingers across.

"Good morning, Cy," I responded in monotone. Same routine every morning for the past three months. "What 're you reading?"

Cyrii's expression didn't change, but he did pause for a second. "They said I’ve recovered enough, and that I’m leaving today. So I'm reading the details of my assignment."

I knew I was probably a fool for feeling a little sorry for him. "I don't understand why they have to have you on assignments. You should be allowed to recover fully –"

Cyrii gestured to me to stop talking. "I know your opinion. Sadly, your opinion matters about as much as mine does. I don't do this stuff because I want to – I do it because I have to."

I rolled my eyes. He always played the 'I don't have a choice' card. What was he, a robot? "Cyrii, you do know that you're human, right? It's not like you don't have a choice."

He glared at me. "I don't have a choice. What else am I supposed to do?"

I remained silent. He was right, there weren't that many options that wouldn't result in being punished or being put to death around here. We were expected to do what we were told, and I guess he was just trying to save himself.

"If I may chime in," Genocide whispered, "I don't think he really cares about you, even if you are half-brothers. He just wants to save himself."

"I didn't ask you, Genocide, and I already figured that out. But, I guess you're right," I admitted.

After I left the room to head to my 'class', I didn't see Cyrii for the rest of the day. When I got back, the room was empty, only a note written in Maltilian on the desk remaining.

Hey Xauc. Sorry I couldn't be here to say goodbye, but I had to leave before you got back. Anyway, you're not going to see me for a while, but I'll be back before you know it, so don't miss me too much. I should probably be back next week, way early in the morning.

-CYRII

I folded up the note and pinned it onto the bulletin board I had hung above the desk (which was technically mine, but I decided to be nice and share) which was originally to pin pictures on. I had one like it back at my old home.

Maybe I should leave tonight. Maybe I shouldn't wait for Cyrii to come back – it'll only make it harder to leave, I thought.

I mulled it over in my head for a few minutes. I'd wait until tomorrow night to leave. Gives me time to pack my things, and plus, tomorrow was one of the very rare free days – so it might be my only chance.

I started gathering roughly what I wanted to take with me before I decided to get ready and go to my ‘class’, which I really wished I didn’t have to go to. But if I didn’t... I didn’t want to think about what would happen then. After gathering everything that I needed for class, I left my room and practically sprinted down the hall.

As usual, I barely paid any attention all day. After all, I pretty much knew all of this stuff from Middy, Viral, Zao, and... The dead girl who I refused to think about because it would only give Genocide more reason to mock me. The teacher babbled on and on about how timing is the key to a successful assignment.

Subconsciously, I wondered if Cyrii had to listen to this stuff. He probably did at one point, I concluded, and returned to doodling on a sheet of notebook paper (which I was supposed to be using to take notes). I didn’t even notice when the teacher walked over to me until she took my paper away.

“Xauc, you’re off task,” she said,looking over my drawing, then proceeding to tear it in half then throw it away. “If you want to be successful, you should pay more attention.”

Given I wasn’t the happiest camper after that black-haired witch (she even has glasses to go with the theme), I guess it wasn’t the best decision to question authority. But then there was another given that if you ripped up a sketch, doodle or not, that I drew and worked hard on, you were probably going to get nailed.

I stood up from my seat and glared at her. We were at eye level, which I had somehow forgotten to note in my mind. Guess I should pay attention to that stuff. “Well excuse me, but I’ll have you know that I already know this stuff. My friend, Midnight, taught it to me, so I guess you must have me in the wrong class.” I took the glasses off of her face, revealing her light hazel eyes. I then proceeded to twist the malleable wire frames until they broke in half.

“G-13, you’re going to stay with me after class and fix my glasses.” By now, the entire class had turned around in their seats to look at the teacher and I. I grinned slightly and narrowed my eyes, deciding to let loose my full fury for everything on this lady (even if it’s not her fault).

“What if I refuse,” I asked. I could have sworn my vision became darker than usual, but who cared? I knew Genocide wasn’t trying to take control – if he was, I would feel intense pain. But I didn’t, so he most likely wasn’t. Besides, I had always wanted to mouth off to the dumbshit teachers they had staffed here.

“I could easily call someone to subdue you. I advise you quit while you’re ahead, G-13.”

“You really think sedating me will do anything? You don’t know anything about me,” I laughed. I had no idea why I was laughing, actually. Black mist whipped around me as my vision became darker again. “I am the Warrior of Darkness! You really think I have to answer to you?” By now the black mist was more opaque, and when a stream of it crossed my vision, I couldn’t see through it.

She spoke into one of those speakers that all the teachers had on their shirt collars. I don’t know what she said, and by then, I didn’t even know what I was doing. I was conscious, but not in control, if that was even possible.

Nobody said a word as a fell to the ground, drained of all energy. I tried to get up, but at this point it just took too much effort. Slowly my vision faded to black, and I knew that I had probably blacked out.

“Xauc, what the hell were you thinking,” Genocide asked. “They had to knock you out. Expect to be in a druggy haze when you wake up.”

“Couldn’t you just take control for me? All I really want is to rest right now. What happened?”

“You let your powers go to your head, that’s what,” Genocide yelled. He didn’t seem happy, but I didn’t want to start a fight with him. “You shouldn’t lose control of your power as the Warrior of Darkness, and no, you can’t use that ‘I can’t help it’ excuse! I personally don’t want to be put to death!”

Put to death. Would that be my punishment for almost assaulting – if not actually assaulting – the teacher? I didn’t have any idea, but all I wanted to do was wake up in my bed in my room. Just wake up from this nightmare. I wanted to be back with Middy, with Viral, hell, even Zao. I didn’t want to be here, I wanted to just go back to where I belonged.

Haaah... Well... Now I have another reason to hate my style. it seems like it's really vague. or OVER descriptive. I need to work on this.

I'll try to work on that... And most likely fail then it'll end up like WHtD...

With this chapter, this is over 3k, almost 4k words.... I'm surprised I got this far. it's officially my second longest story. ._.
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Reluctantly, I opened my eyes. Same usual, cream-coloured walls. But, still, Cyrii was missing from the whole picture. I pulled myself to an upright position, and tried to get myself to my feet. I succeeded, but I was immediately hit with a wave of dizziness. Eugh. I guess they really did have to drug me, I thought.

The entire idea of losing control scared me. Especially since I was... One of the Warriors. If anyone could believe it, it scared me more than Genocide did. And Genocide scared me a lot.

I started packing what I was going to take with me tonight. A copy of my favourite book, a flashlight, box of crackers, some water, a blanket... I started a list in my head. I managed to stuff two apples in there, for good measure.

I guess you could say that after I finished packing, I started writing the note. It was only maybe two paragraphs, but I wasn't used to writing in braille, and I needed to dig a reference out of the drawer of the nightstand by the bed. I read it to myself silently, always reffering to the reference.



So it wasn't the best letter. I took a second to question whether I should even leave him a note, but i decided to leave it unfolded on the table. By the time I finished writing it, the sun was almost on the horizon. I have to wait for the sun to set, I thought. It'll give me the best chance if it's dark.

"Xauc," Genocide called. "You should get some rest. Any hope you have is permanently screwed if you don't have enough energy."

I could have sworn that i actually felt his arms wrap around me. This deeply disturbed me for a second, seeing as Genocide didn't really like me. But from my gathering, he hated it here more than I did, so I guess we were in the same boat. In a way.

I set my head down on the desk, and allowed myself to drift off.

"Gringe gein dayi dimines nadar rek, gringe gein inushein plomen dest clahein dath..."

The somewhat familiar phrase drifted to me, although I didn't know exactly what it meant. I forced myself to open my eyes and look around. I wasn't anywhere in particular, as usual if this was where my less-than-faithful, unwilling-partner-for-life resided in my subconscious. As if on cue, he appeared before me, in the usual black Nethian 'faukimo' (Which is the Nethian word for... I wasn't sure, but it was something concerning clothing). Which confirmed that I was where I thought I was, even more so in that I was wearing a white version of what he was. Although that kind of contradicted itself, since "here" was literally "nowhere".

"Do you know what that means, Xauc," he asked me. "I know you've heard it on multiple occasions, including in that song..." He smiled as if he knew something I didn't, all traces of his previous behaviour gone.

I frowned, as I couldn't recall the translation. I knew it from somewhere, and I didn't remember which song he was talking about. "No, I don't. Do you?"

"Yes, I do. Basically, it means 'Don't give into the fading light, don't give yourself to the afterlife'. It's from the song Dimines Nadar, literally 'Fading Light', by Hiko Liran," he explained. "In Old Maltilian, it means a completely different thing, so it swapped meanings with 'gringe no dath dimines nadar', which is what it was back then. In Modern Maltilian, 'gringe no dath dimines nadar' is a death chant, although I'm not sure what exactly it means..."

I interrupted his ramble. "This is useful to know HOW? I have other things to worry about than silly song lyrics."

He took a step toward me and wrapped his arms around me, like I assumed he had done before. "It's not useful at the moment, it's... Useless knowledge. But who knows if you'll ever need to know it some time?"

I nodded, and wrapped my arms around him as well. It felt nice that for once, we weren't arguing. It was nice, but at the same time, it felt odd... And unpleasant. I blame the fact that he smelled like blood for the unpleasant part.

He slowly let go and pushed me back, our matching red eyes now locked. "You should wake up now. It's nearly midnight," he said before disappearing.

I yawned and sat up in my chair. Just as Genocide had said, it was midnight now, and it was completely dark. I got up and walked to the bathroom, and ran cold water onto my hands and then splashed it into my face to wake me up. It seemed to be effective in waking me up.

I dried off my face and picked up my bag of supplies, and double checked to make everything was there. Once I was sure everything was there, I put it on backpack-style and opened the window.

I climbed out onto the ledge, clinging to the window frame. The water dripping onto my face and running down my cheeks from my hair was a bit irritating and distracting, but I managed to grab hold of the railing to the balcony just as I had in my dream. I let go of the window frame and grabbed onto it with my other hand, then inched myself off of the ledge. My arms seemed to be yanked out of their sockets almost immediately and I struggled to get myself over the ends onto the balcony.

I landed on the other side of the railing with a dull thud. So far, so good. I got up and ran to the bridge. Quickly crossing it, I fled in to the depths of the night, blending into the darkness which I knew so well.

This is very interesting so far. Very unique. 3nodding