Dusk Chronicles: Among the Stars

Chapter 1: Papillon Venin du Crépuscule (5/5)

**This part is INCOMPLETE, Please stay tuned for the remainder of the chapter to be uploaded**

Cold rain dropped softly onto my face, a gentle sprinkle but at that time it felt like needles falling from the looming clouds above. My muscles refused to respond but then I realised that everything around me was moving, slowly swaying back and forth.

"Hold up a moment, I think he's alive." an unfamiliar voice sounded above me, then a warm touch across my face. I could feel the dark embrace of unconsciousness calling to me, the words fading and becoming like cryptic grunts around me, sounding like three or four people.

Where was I going? Who else is around?Did Taurus survive?...Did Dusk?

"Dusk?" My own voice was weak, barely audible, but I wanted to hear her voice. No. I needed to hear her voice, she needed to be alive. Not for the sake that I wasn't ready to make it on my own, but I needed answers. Was her eye under the mask purple? Was she part of Amy's family? Family circles were often distinguished by specific shades of eye colouring; Mine was a pale blue, Lingsteins' were a distinguished vibrant green, and Amy's family was a lilac hue.

"What's Dusk mean?" A second voice, younger and almost gleeful, sounded out. "Is it his name? What an atrocity of a name for a man." The sound faded as another voice sounded, too far away to make out the response though.

"Blake." This was a stern voice, coming from above me, I tried to open my eyes but the light was unforgiving. "Mr. Page, do not fret, you are in no danger. We are taking you to Thilly Haven." I heard some growls and then a sharp pain as my hand brushed against something. Thilly Haven was a large city-site that housed the Zodiacs main quarters, and that voice rang a sense of familiarity, but I couldn't place it at that moment. Then a warm presence near my ear, someone leaned in and I could feel their breath on my cheek. "Even if you don't know what happened. I won't hold it against you, you simply weren't ready to face such a foe."

Leo?

There was some other muttering I started to realise they were speaking in code just as the roar of the city roared around us as we drew near. At first the world erupted in a symphony of applause and cheers, people rejoiced as the Zodiacs walked through the streets of the city. A moment filled with a single sentence silenced the whole city, everyone seemed to hold their breath as if the very air was suffocating.

"Taurus is dead."

My heart stopped, each beat filled my veins with pain. If Taurus died did that mean that Dusk was gone as well? Was this my fate? What am I if I can't protect anyone? Why did I survive? Was this my punishment for failing you Amy? And you Angela? There wasn't a sound, not a murmur or even a breath until the doors of the temple opened. This wasn't how I had imagined entering this sacred place. Why had they taken me? Was I now a prisoner to the Zodiacs?

"Gently now, he's all we have left." It was Leo again, what did she mean, all they have? I felt movement again, slowly being shifted between people and laid down. More muttering began, only soft whispers drowned out by the screaming of my blood rushing through me. Every attempt to open my eyes was met with blinding pain, my body refused to move. All I could do was lie still and wait for my fate at the hands of the Zodiacs.

Days passed, maybe weeks, and we fell into a rhythm. I'd drift into memories, but they weren't all mine, sometimes I was Taurus training, Leo running with her pride, Aries trotting through a never ending lane of books. When I woke up, someone would be around me, offering me food, to help me eat and to guide me to the plate as I still couldn't open my eyes. They never spoke to me, never asked what happened or about my involvement. It was either Leo, Aries or Libra who would be in the room. Leo would check my nerves, poking at my hands or feet until I flinched, then a soft pat on the head and she'd be gone. Libra was all about observing, he was silent but I could always sense him entering. He would just float about the room, on one occasion he sat next to me and helped fix my hair and change my clothes once I could tolerate moving. Lastly there was Aries, she was the smart one, and I was like her science experiment. I could hear her clicking as she walked, and the sound of her writing down almost constantly when she was around me.