Subject: [fic] Pawns of Power[1/4] (and self-intro) Hi, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Hayashi Azusa, and I've been lurking on this mailing list for some time. I like reading fantasy, and my favourite anime is WK. Thus, my efforts at combining the two together. *drum roll* Author: Hayashi Azusa Email: wingdance@h... Title: Pawns of Power Type: Series, Alternative Universe Teaser: Weiss boys in a fantasy setting. (as in sci-fi/fantasy, not your own dream-world) Rating: Either PG-13 Spoilers: Regarding the four members' pasts, if you know where to notice. (Personally, I don't think you can tell the spoilers from my own crap) Warnings: Strong Language, angst Keywords: Weiss, fantasy, angst ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Part I-Aya "You are awake." The voice was feminine, unfamiliar. Ran blinked, trying to make his eyes focus, and failing miserably. He tried speaking, his lips cracked when they moved, and the insides of his mouth felt painfully dry. "How-?" he managed to croak. "Where-am I?" "At least he's rational," another voice, a male one, remarked. "For a moment I thought he was going to ask 'who am I'." "Aw, come on, Youji," a third younger voice said. "Easy on the chap. He's been through enough." Ran closed his eyes. Enough? That was a serious understatement. He had just lost everything: his father, his mother, his sister, his whole world had shattered around him in a single instant. The way his parents had looked, wide-eyed with shock even in death; the way his sister had felt, a limp lifeless body in his arms. Aya…Aya-chan… Somebody took his hand. "We found you lying in the ruins of the Fujimiya manor, unconscious, so we took you in, and the girl as well." His eyes opened once more. This time, he could make out the blurry image of a brown-haired man. The voice sounded as though the speaker was around his own age. "My-sister-how-" There was a long silence. His heart sank. "We managed to keep her from dying, but-" the voice hesitated. "The chance of her waking up is very slim." The last strand of hope hung there; not breaking, not growing, just hanging there in a void that was growing increasingly frigid. "Why- why did you-save me?" "Good question," the voice that had spoken second just now said, as flippantly as before. "I was wondering about that myself. Persia isn't usually this charitable." "That's because you don't have the Sight," the feminine voice replied. "This young man holds the last key to your circle. Without Fire, you are nothing." "He's Fire? And I thought it's just the hair." "It might be forever before we find another one with the Fire element so strong in him. Persia wasn't about to let the chance slide." "Fire, hmm," the youngest voice said thoughtfully. "So that was why he wasn't burnt at all, just knocked out." "Exactly." His vision was clouding over once more, turning black, his world spinning- "Young man," a new voice, firm and authoritative, spoke. "What's your name?" He clung onto consciousness by teeth and fingernails long enough to form a reply. "Aya-Fujimiya Aya." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A few days later, the one with the feminine voice came to see him again. "By now, you would know that I'm known as Manx," she said by way of introduction. Aya nodded warily. "Publicly known as the First Court Sorceress to the King." "To you, I'm just Manx," the beautiful young sorceress told him. "And you are aware of the identity of the three youths whom you now live with." "Mage-assassins," he said flatly. "You have heard of Weiß, I see. As you should have; that's how the court refers to them, and the Fujimiya, while not very prominent as a border barony, was still nobility." Was still nobility. They no longer existed now. Aya ignored the stab of pain brought about by the thought the same way as he had ignored everything else for the last few days. "The mage-assassins are said to have been responsible for a series of deaths in high-ranking positions." Manx nodded. "We are," she agreed. "The three of them are above the law, so long as they perform their deeds in Persia's name. They take care of things the government can't publicly engage in." "Only the three of them?" Aya asked. He had expected there to be more; the deceased nobles had all had plenty of bodyguards. "Only the three of them," Manx confirmed. "But for two years, since Youji joined, we've been on the look out for a forth member. It had been manageable when it was only Earth and Air; when Water joined, the Stable Elements outnumber the Unstable two to one, and the team is no longer balanced." "So you looked out for Fire." He knew he had mage potential; his father had the family sorcerer look his children over when they were still kids, Aya-chan and himself. The sorcerer had exclaimed endlessly over the large mage talent he possessed. If he had not been the eldest and only son, Aya had no doubt his parents would have sent him to a mage school long ago. "It wasn't easy. Fire is by far the rarest of the four Elements to be present in humans. We were starting to give up hope and settle for Air instead." Manx regarded him with eyes that were as deep and as mysterious as jade. "Then, you." She laid out two items before him; a katana in a blood-red sheath, inlaid with a large ruby, and a decanter of some beverage. "You have two choices before you, Fujimiya Aya; take up the blade of fire and become one of us; or drink the hemlock, and die as you would have if Weiß did not chance upon you." Become an assassin and live, refuse and die… Aya did not take long to consider it. No one would be there to avenge his family against those who ruined them, should he die. He picked up the katana. The deep red ruby flared the moment his hand clasped its hilt. For a moment, he was blind, deaf, mute, totally cut off; then his heart began beating again, now faster nor slower than before, yet everything was now different. His senses were heightened, every slight noise, every change in temperature, every subtle change of colour, every waft of smell, might as well have been shouting at him. His hands tinged with energy, and when he looked inside himself he Saw a bright coppery coil of magical energy within him, a steady, powerful supply of pure energy. Manx was smiling at him when he finally remembered to look at her. "I knew no one who holds Fire of this magnitude would ever be a coward." "What happened?" Aya asked, still trying to adjust to his new self. "Your potential just opened," the sorceress explained. "The enormous magical power within you has just found a link to the you in the material world. Now you can use it, change it, store it, harness it, do whatever you want with it. It's part of your conscious self now. You have become a mage, Aya." "Mage-assassin." Aya's eyes focussed on the ruby, his Sight telling him that it radiated with power of its own. "Am I right to assume that the ruby is responsible for creating a channel between my power and my body?" "That's very good reasoning," Manx said approvingly. "Persia chose well. You'd be a most needed addition to Weiß." Aya's jaws hardened. "That is no concern of mine. I live but for revenge." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Life with the other three was strange, to a certain degree. Lodging inside an apparently deserted and ruined tower in the forest a distance from the capital city, they led a quiet, almost secluded existence. Aya did not know what the others do to fill up their spare time, and he would rather leave it that way, glad that they gave him privacy as well. The oldest of them, the flippant Youji, was often gone for extended periods of time, but neither Ken nor Omi ever commented about it. Aya sensed the difference, though; he had to be dumb not to. The two did not question Youji because they trusted him; they did not question Aya-at least not openly-because they weren't sure how to, and besides, he had not done anything overly suspicious yet. Well, so what, as if he gave a damn, anyway. He wasn't going to betray them, after all. He would do his fair share of work, and leave them alone for the rest. Past experiences dictated that mutual acquaintance was just right: not close enough to cause pain when they finally pull apart, not far enough to be uncomfortable when they got pushed together. He couldn't care less. There was only one thing he cared about; revenge. He would find out who had been behind the mass slaughter in the barony of Fujimiya, and that person would pay. Other than that, he cared not. Joining Weiß served one purpose for him: the acquiring of magical powers to seek vengeance. So he would stick by his bargain and do his work as an assassin, nothing more, nothing less. Certainly nothing as pointless as making friends with his team mates. Friendship was soft, comradeship a weakness. They would hinder him on his path for justice. The lesser ties he had, the easier it would be for him to throw himself full-heartedly into the pursue; and in the end, perhaps, he could die- "Yo, I'm back," the tall green-eyed young man called Youji announced cheerfully as he entered the kitchen that served as their meeting room/dining room/cooking area all rolled into one. He was almost always grinning or making light comments; Aya could count the number of times he had heard Youji speak seriously in the one month since he joined on one hand. "Missed me, Kenken?" "You wish," Aya heard Ken reply, a chuckle in his voice. They all seemed to be in a good mood today. "You missed lunch, sorry." "Sigh, you do have to spoil my day. Where's Aya?" "Upstairs in his room, where else; I'll get you something to eat, Youji," Omi offered. "Nah, I was kidding. I ate. Did Manx come while I wasn't around?" "No," Ken replied thoughtfully. "There hasn't been a single mission for the past month or so, ever since-" he broke off. "Giving us time to adjust to each other," Omi prompted. That was a more diplomatic way of saying that Manx was giving them time to check Aya out, he supposed. They knew he could hear them, even from his own room. All mages had heightened senses, after all. His room; now that was an interesting concept. Last time, when he had been Ran, a baron's son, he had had an entire suite to himself, which had been done up in simple but tasteful hues, with a special section for weaponry and another for music, both of which had been where his passion lay. Fujimiya Aya, mage-assassin of a group called Weiß, had a single, plain room, with as little in the way of accessories as was humanly possible. The latter was not due to the lack of concern on anybody's part except his own. It was ironic: how many times had the young idealistic Ran gazed around his room, wishing that he could hang a ball of mage light there, or create a mirror from one of the walls? How often had he thought the thought: "if I had magic, I can…"? Well, he had magic now; as much power as he could ever need. But he felt no need to change the state of his barren room. What's the point? Appearances were simply a façade, and if he filled his room with illusions of luxury, would he be any better than those who dwell in their own imaginary world, away from reality? He, he must not forget. The room can stay the way it had been when he first took it, and he would never feel any desire to decorate it as the idealistic Ran would have. He was no longer young. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A falcon winged in through the window downstairs a few days later. Aya happened to be downstairs-rarest of the rare-so he was treated to the sight of the falcon shedding its white feathers to transform itself into a strikingly beautiful lady with hair as red as his own. "Sorcery?" he asked when she turned to face him. "Of course," Manx smiled. "Shape-shifting is a gift only possessed through sorcery. The First Court Mage wields much more magical power than I do, but personally, I'm just as glad that I'm a sorceress." "Mission at last?" Youji called as he vaulted over the parapet of the staircase overhead and jumped straight down, landing softly and soundlessly before them. "I was starting to think you got angry with me." "Why would I do that?" Manx asked as she turned to greet Ken and Omi, who were coming downstairs in the normal-and less spectacular- fashion. Her voice was now deadly serious. "Weiß, mission." "This is the target," Persia's voice resonated in the air around them, as a man's face appeared in the mist. Aya nearly gave an exclamation of surprise. He knew this man. The father of one of his acquaintances, a rich merchant's son whom he had visited on the occasions when he visited the capital city. "Though he appeared to be a respectable merchant on the surface, this man had been responsible for the kidnapping, raping, and eventual prostitution of many youths who came to the city to seek their fortune. White hunters of the night, hunt the tomorrow of the dark beasts!" The light in the mist grew more and more intense, finally bursting into a ball of light before dissipating. "Dramatic," Youji commented. Manx ignored him. "All going?" Everybody nodded. "Mustn't let off anyone who does that to a fair lass." Youji seemed to have this irrepressible urge to have the last word. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Omi was the one who laid out the plans; they would go to the capital, find the target's house, get in, kill him, and leave. Simple and straightforward. Aya could feel three pairs of eyes watching him, assessing his every move. They had more or less got used to him in the past month, but they had never seen him in a mission. They did not know his strengths and his weaknesses, they could not guess at his speed or reflexes, they didn't even know how he would react to killing. Actually, neither would he. He did not voice anything, though, totally ignoring them for the rest of the day. Towards evening, he changed into a dark leather suit-his assassin gear, Manx had said when she gave it to him-pulling a plain heavy cloak around his shoulders to conceal it. Youji and Ken were already in the courtyard when he came down. They both donned cloaks, too, underneath which were probably their respective assassin attires. Neither bore anything that looked like a weapon, though Ken had a satchel that looked important. Omi came just after Aya; he looked as inconspicuous as the rest of them. They were all ready. Each saddled his own mount, and led the horses out of the stables. They mounted, and galloped off, through the forest to the capital city. They left their horses staked just outside the city, and entered the gates after a brief stop with the guards. "The western section," Omi told them in a low voice. As the information gatherer, he knew the map of the city like the back of his hand. "Turn here, it's a short cut." Within twenty minutes, they were in close proximity to the target's house. Youji and ken split up to take up posts around the house, Omi stayed with him. "Aya, do you know what to do?" "Yes," he said shortly. "I was only asking-" Omi broke off, probably sensing that he wasn't getting anywhere. The awkward silence hung between them. Though, truth to tell, Aya did not mind him asking. He couldn't care less. Besides, this was his first mission, he had to find out what kind of person he was, whether he could actually be a mage-assassin. Dusk settled into night; lights started going off in the brightly-lit houses. A few months ago, _he- had been one of those in the bright warm houses, blissfully unaware of the night, or the dark assassins who prowled it… "It's time," Youji's voice came to them soundlessly. "Let's go in." Omi jumped up the wall and paused, turning back to lend Aya a hand should the latter require it. Aya ignored the younger boy's extended hand and leapt up by himself. They wound their way through the yards and the corridors and the gardens, eventually meeting up with Youji outside the target's room. "The target's inside," the tall youth said by way of greeting. "He's drunk, I think. Do you want to do it, Omi, or shall I?" "You," Omi replied. "I can't aim properly in the dark. You know how bad my night vision is-by now." Youji grinned and was about to make a reply when Ken spoke up from behind him. "No." They had all heard his approach, but no one expected him to stop Youji. Aya looked directly into Ken's face; he had a pretty good idea of what Ken was going to say. "Persia's orders; Abyssinian has to be the one to kill the target." Ken looked uncomfortable, Youji stared for a moment before he, too, understood; Omi looked away. A test. This was a test for him. If he could not kill, Aya knew he would not be alive at this time tomorrow. He knew too much not to be a threat to Weiß, should he back out. But he wouldn't, even without this added incentive. He would never go back on his word, be it verbal or action. Building up a fresh layer of ice over the fire in his heart, Aya looked at each of them in turn, straight in the face. Strange, a person's eyes could tell you all you need to know about him… He nodded. He set his index finger to the door, murmuring a few words below audible level. There was a click, and the latch lifted silently- silently, at least to normal people. The four mage-assassins could hear it very well. Three pairs of eyes fell on him again. Would he do it? Could he do it? Aya entered without looking back. He knew if he did, he might falter, and falter meant failure, falter meant death. He walked on. The room reeked of alcohol, and its snoring occupant reeked of more than alcohol. Aya went up to the bed. This was it. No hesitation, No softness. No mercy-for both the target and himself. The katana flashed. Blood flowed. He came out. "I'm done," he said matter-of-factly. The blood dripping from his katana should speak for the rest. "Shall we go?" "Is there any faster way out than the ways we came in?" Ken asked no one in particular. It was Youji who replied. "No. This is the way the merchants usually build their houses: smack in the middle of the entire household would be their own residence, the center of power. Safest, or so they think." That was true, Aya thought, but how did Youji know? The description of him in the three's profiles Manx had given him only gave his past as a professional spy. Professional spies did not work among the middle class on a regular basis. Half way through the maze of corridors, a scream that sounded as though it was torn out of a feminine throat sliced through the cold night air. Immediately havoc broke out: candles were being lit, room doors opened, and clothes pulled on. The sound of weapons came when the news that the master of the household had been killed passed through everyone. "Hell," Ken muttered. It was going to be hard to leave under such circumstances. Should they shield themselves through magical means all the way out, the drain on power was not going to be a joke. "Dammit all to Hell." Aya cast his mind back to the times when he had visited, an eternity ago. How was the whole place laid out? Wasn't there an infrequently used passageway that went around most of the residences? "Follow me," he said quietly. The other three stared at him. "I know a way that is mostly out of sight." They followed him. Aya led a way that zigzagged from behind one clamp of bushes to the next, behind the wall of the storehouse, and over the low roof… It took longer, but they weren't seen, and without the drain on their energy level. "This is the last part," Aya told the others, crouching behind the main hall. "Across that courtyard, and through the door." They all looked across the wide expanse of open vulnerable area represented by the courtyard, and the number of mercenary guards standing at the gates and probably all around the wall as well. They had to shield here. Aya closed his eyes for a moment, and concentrated. Immediately there was a channel leading form his power, where magic was flowing out at a rapid rate. "Aya!" Omi gasped. "Go!' he said between gritted teeth. The power drain was worse than he had expected; of course, he was shielding four people. They didn't wait any longer. Omi grabbed his left hand, and Ken took his right. With Youji in front, the four of them made their way out of the target's house together. Aya kept the shields up until they were out of sight and hearing of the place before letting go. The moment he did, his body gave way, and he would have fallen on his face if the others had not caught him. "I'll hold him," Youji said, hooking Aya's arm over his own shoulder. "Ken, go get the horses. Omi stay with me. It's going to take two to carry this fellow over the city walls." Aya clenched his jaws tightly, struggling to balance on shaking knees. He heard Ken go off, and knew that the young man would be all right. Bugnuks weren't made with climbing as a top priority, but it was, essentially, a set of claws-and all claws could cling onto a surface very well. "Steady, it's not far now," Youji's voice sounded sober-for once. "Don't do that next time. Your body can't deal with power drainage of this magnitude yet." "Yet…?" he asked, wishing he could push the strand of sweat-soaked hair out of his eyes. "In time it'll adapt," Omi replied. "Holding up individual shields wouldn't be half this bad. If I thought you were going to do it for everybody-" He hesitated, but only for a moment. "Sorry for not trusting you enough, Aya." He did not reply to that. Why did he voluntarily shield for all four of them, when he knew what sort of drainage would occur? He really did not know. Out of friendship? Impossible, they were co-workers, not friends. One month of co-existence hardly qualified for any sort of attachment, even if he had been so inclined in the first place, which he wasn't. The last thing he needed was more emotional ties. So exactly why did he go through all the extra troubles, for three people he didn't really care for? They had reached the city wall. Omi attached one end of Youji's wire to his arrow, aimed, and let go. The arrow made a perfect arc in the air before landing with a resounding thud in the parapet. He tucked the wire tentatively, then harder. "It's steady enough," he said in a low voice. "Who's first?" "Why do you even bother to ask?" Youji sighed. "Of course it's me. You are lighter, and you aren't wearing thick gloves. Bye, see you up there." With that, he scooted up the wire and climbed up the wall. Omi wound the other end of the wire around his waist, hoisting Aya in his arms. "Pull us up, Youji." After they were over the city wall, Ken met them with the horses. They helped Aya up his horse, but he just couldn't summon enough strength to take up its reins. "I'll ride double with him," Omi offered. "I'm the lightest." He mounted up behind Aya, keeping him from slipping off. "All right now, let's go, just don't make it too fast." Aya settled himself for a long ride as they set off. His body still felt weak, but his vision was clearing. He could feel the steady hum of the ruby on the sheath of his blade, which was strapped to his back, radiating a power and warmth of its own. He would have to clean the katana when he got back; clean it of the blood of the man he had killed. He had killed. He was a true mage-assassin now. There was no turning back. He was past the point of no return. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is just the first part of the 4-part Pawns of Power(which in its turn is just the first of the 4-part mage series), and I'd welcome all comments. (If you think this is pure crap, please please tell me. I won't spend two hours every day typing it from the back of my science notes into the computer then) Yours, Hayashi Azusa p.s. Special note to Kat, the owner of the Ultimate Weiss Kreuz Bishonen Babe Lair: I just read your post(message 1549), thanks!