Of Love and Death.

The Present Chapter 11: A Snowy Day Pt.1

Okay, I do talk about/reference the negative relationship between Mind and Cold, as well as the effects of it multiple times. And Kit gets his world turned upside down for the umpteenth time. Also talk a little bit about the whole "Spryzen possessed Shu and turned him evil bit" a bit. And it comes to light that Reina used to be a Roman Gladiator (for those who don't know, the gladiators were often slaves forced to fight, like in her case), and she almost died in a match. And Zac X Azure Eye. Also it is talked about how Cold wants to kill Shu and Valt. And one sort of dirty joke at the end of the first part.

      Mind studied the sun standing in front of him, the one he was pretty sure was Fire. The flaming sun stood tall, and strong, with great scaled wings that looked like they could soar up into the sky for days on end. His skin was crimson, with dotted scales a bushel of colors, red and black and gold and white. His rainbow colored hair cascaded over his shoulders, parting around his horns and framing his face, with those characteristic white eyes. Standing on the black backdrop of the universe, well, if Mind didn't have a girlfriend, he would have thought the sun looked beautiful. As it was, he could barely keep the thought at bay.

     I won't hurt you, I promise, Mind reassured the sun, even as he felt sick having to "speak" the words. He wanted to ignore the fact that he had to make sure Fire wouldn't be afraid of him. He was, by no means, anything to be threatened by.

     As soon as Mind spoke, Fire jumped backward, clearly startled beyond measure. "W-what?" He signed, total terror and shock written all over his face. Great. Another one who was scared of a little telepathy. Although, Mind had to admit it was humorous. The great fiery nexus force of the sun's, scared by some words in his head. "What was that?" Fire asked.

     Valt bolted upwards, acutely aware that something had happened. Even if he couldn't quite place that something this instant. He knew he'd been asleep a moment before, dreaming even. However, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what his dream had been about. All he was left with was a phantom touch on his heart. Like he'd been speaking with someone he loved. That and a feeling of horror, regret, sadness, and anger that nearly overpowered him. But also a more pleasant feeling, like he'd cried for an hour, and let it be cathartic.

       Slightly shaking from the shock of waking up so suddenly, Valt reached for Valtryek, trying to use her presence to center himself. Because he really needed to center himself. He wasn't even able to figure out where he was, he was too caught up in his mind. The room he was in was definitely familiar, but the windows were shut and he didn't have enough light to piece it together immediately. What he was able to realize, however, was the distinctive shape of Shu laying down on his floor, still in what was likely the same clothes he'd been wearing on the plane.

      Valt! You're up! Valtryek exclaimed. There was a weird edge to her voice that Valt couldn't seem to place. A forced cheerfulness that made her seem apprehensive, and almost defensive. Like she was hiding something from him, or trying to figure out how much he knew about a topic. Which was definitely a strange thing for his partner to be doing. What could she even have to hide from him?

     Groaning, Valt rested his head in his hands. He was distinctly disoriented, more so than he could ever remember being upon waking up. It felt like up was down. There was too much in his head that he needed to go through before things started making sense. Start with the last thing you remember, his partner advised in his head.

     Okay, that was good advice. Valt could do that. He needed to find out why he had woken up in a bed with no recollection of how he got there. That was probably the first thing to do. He knew he wasn't in danger, Shu was right there, but he still needed to know why he was where he was. Let's see, Valt said to himself, thinking back. He remembered getting off the plane, and then a weird feeling when he'd seen the white haired guy with the purple shirt. Like deja vu but a thousand times stronger. Like Deja Vu had decided that he needed to be told something and had done it herself.

      Then Valt had gone to speak with Kit and his four friends about the white-haired guy, and that was it. There was like a mental wall surrounding him, stopping him from figuring this out any more. He could picture it in his head, not really a wall but a door. It was blue, and decorated with punctuation and smoke. All around it was blackness. Comforting, dark, blackness. Valt himself was there too, standing right infront of the door. He felt small in front of it, but also incredibly big. Like he was in charge of this strange landscape.

     Smirking, Valt took a step forward. The darkness surrounded him, and he loved it. This was his territory. He could feel it rushing towards him. Not to overtake him, but to help him. Help him get through this door. Then he took another step, and a sort of click echoed in this place that should have been terrifying, but wasn't. It sounded like a hoof on the ground, like the Deer had entered BC Sol's training room. Or maybe more the sound of a goat's hoof.

       One more step, than another, and then another. Valt extended his blue hand out in front of him, and placed it on the door. He was about to push it open, but hesitated for a moment. Or, rather, he felt his partner's apprehensiveness. "What is it?" He asked, turning his head around to face the mounted warrior.

      There was a long moment where Valtryek did not speak. She simply stood there, her long blue cape swaying in the wind. "I will not stop you from opening that door," She began. Her six-eyed helmet covered her face, and he could not see her expression, but she seemed sad. "But I have to ask, are you sure you want to go forward?"

      A small breath escaped Valt's mouth. He hadn't thought about that. Yes, he wanted to know what was beyond that door, but, judging from the way Valtryek was acting, something was wrong. He knew the bey knew something he didn't. He also had this, just, feeling that if he were to open the door and step forward, it would change the course of this life.

      "Valt? You are awake, right?" Shu asked. All of the sudden Valt snapped out of the strange trance he'd been in. He was no longer looking at his partner, but staring into Shu's deep red eyes. There was a hitch in his throat. Something was wrong. Shu had red eyes, it felt off. Which was crazy, he'd always had red eyes. Red eyes. Red. Eyes. Red Eye.

       Valt gripped his friend's shoulders in his hands. "You have red eyes!" He practically shouted. He had just realized something incredibly important, and he needed to tell Shu he'd realized it.  After all, it was such a detail, would Shu himself even know.

     The fiery blader gave Valt a weird look. "Yesssss?" Shu agreed. He was completely confused. All of Valt's mind reading abilities attested to that. Currently, Shu was trying to decide if Valt had forgotten everything after he'd passed out, or if he was just being weird. "I feel like this is a known fact?"

       Shaking his head, Valt disagreed profusely. "You don't understand!" He exclaimed. "You have red eyes. As in, Red Eye!" He paused from his explanation to let Shu absorb this knowledge. There was silence. Shu must be stunned.

      After a few seconds, Shu gripped Valt's shoulders with his own hands. "Valt." He said very seriously. His red eyes were full of concern. Which was understandable. This was a large development. Ashtem had clearly known what he was doing with the Snake Pit. Not to praise Theodore Glass, but those would be some big shoes to fill. Although, Valt was fairly certain there were some areas in which he could improve. Like the working bladers to exha-"Are you seriously just figuring this out now?" Shu exclaimed.

      Valt blinked. Was he supposed to have figured this out sooner? It was such a subtle detail, he was surprised Shu seemed to have known. He was about to answer, when the door to the room he was in burst open. A blast of light came in through the hallway, illuminating his old bedroom. So that was why it looked so familiar. Also in the doorway was Valt's mother. "Oh good, you two are u-" Chiharu began, stopping when she saw the scene.

     Just, you know, Valt and Shu on the former's bed, holding each other's shoulders, their faces barely apart. Nothing that would be hard to explain to his mom. 

     Well this might be an interesting conversation.