Of Love and Death.

The Present Chapter 14: The Past Pt. 4

"Okay, you ready?" Valt asked. Shu nodded, nestling into the crook of his boyfriend's arm. Just because his entire perception of the world had been turned upside down didn't mean he wasn't going to enjoy being this close to the one he loved. Looking up, he studied Valt's eyes. They were the same brown they'd always been. But he could see it now. The ancient shadow that his boyfriend really was. It was beautiful.

Did that show in Shu's eyes? Did they see some kind of fire being in his gaze? Maybe. It wasn't a small part of him that hoped so. He wanted to be seen for who he really was. He had been told that he seemed to stare through people's souls. Although, technically, that was probably Venice's job. If what the azure-eyed blader had said about seeing people's spirits was any indication.

There was a small touch on the crown of Shu's head. With a slight blush, he realized it was Valt giving him a kiss. Which was certainly welcome, if he had been in a better position to do so, he'd have returned the gesture. Unfortunately, it was a bit hard to do so from underneath his love's arm. All of the sudden, Shu's eyes felt very hard to keep open. Yawning, he blinked, hoping to dispel some of the tiredness.

And then the world turned blinding white.

There was nothing there. Just white as far as the eye could see. It wasn't creepy. If anything, it was comforting. But it was still very different from Shu's room, where he'd been just a second before. "Ack, I forgot how bright it would be in here," a voice said from behind him.

Spinning around on his heel, Shu whirled to face whomever had spoken. And he was met with a face that was heart-achingly familiar. Beautifully sculpted beyond words, and kinder than anyone else could ever hope to be. But at the same time, the person whom his gaze fell upon was entirely foreign. He'd never seen them before in his life.

They weren't too tall. Just a tad bit shorter than Shu himself. They had on shorts and a tank top with a yellow "M" pin on it. But that was about where anything normal ended with this person. They were very, very blue. Basically from head to toe, blue in various shades. Which was definitely odd. Another odd thing was the fact that they looked kind of like a Satyr from Greek Mythology. Not exactly, but kind of. Ram's horns curled out of the sides of their heads, and they had goat legs.

Also the eyes. Eyes that were the same exact color of black as Cold's had been. Perhaps that should have terrified Shu, but it didn't. Instead of holding evil beyond evils, this person's eyes were gentle. They held emotion in them. Love, kindness, caring. Exactly how a certain someone's brown gaze had looked a moment before. "Valt?" Shu asked uncertainty. Because he didn't exactly look like Valt, but who else could it be?

A chuckle came from the strange version Valt. "The one and only!" He spun around in a circle, showing off. Shu could do nothing but stare in some kind of disbelief. Not that he'd doubted what the other blader had said, but still. It was that level of unbelievable that even if you decide to believe it, you still don't.

But now? Now Shu was seeing Mind. He knew that much. Everything was sinking in. He'd died thousands upon thousands of deaths and lived basically as many lives. Cold was actually his sister, and just, he was...fire. He was literally made of fire.

Wait, Shu thought as he realized something. If Valt looked like Mind, then did he...? The white-haired blader glanced down at himself. Yes. Yes Shu did not look exactly like himself anymore. He had turned as blazing red as Valt was blue. In and of itself, that would be strange enough. He wasn't used to having any color to his skin, much less red. However, for some reason, the tips of his fingers and toes had short golden claws. Small, but evident. All of that was ignoring the multicolored scales that popped up in clusters on his skin.

As much as Shu had departed from any semblance of human appearance, it didn't feel that strange. If he hadn't looked down, he never would have noticed he was different. Being this way felt soothing, like sinking into bed after a long day. He curled and uncurled his fingers, feeling the way he moved. It was different, smoother.

Looking up, Shu realized that Valt had come a bit closer to him. "You ready? Or do you want another moment?" He asked with a calm smile. Shu considered that for a moment. As interesting as it would be to mess around for a little bit longer, there was kind of a pressing issue. That issue being he needed to remember who he'd been before. Otherwise, Cold was going to have even more of an edge over him.

So, gazing into Valt's black eyes, the fiery blader nodded. "Well I'd rather not stay here too long. Might burn your eyes out," he joked. That got a smile from the...shadow? That was what Valt had said he was, right? Shu was pretty sure. And he, Fire, was a sun. Again, as much as that name rang true, it was still weird to call himself that. Fire. Wrong and right at the same time.

In front of Shu, Valt walked to the side, putting something that the sun had somehow missed into full view. A giant door, many times his height. Tall and imposing, made of curls of fire on a white background. That he hadn't seen, because he'd been too focused on Valt.

Sometimes the blader wanted to kick himself.

"I think you should be the one to open it," Valt said from the edge of Shu's vision. That did make sense. Stepping forward Shu reached out a hand to swing open the door. Taking in, again, how much more normal everything felt than when he wasn't a weird fire creature.

Without taking a second to second guess himself, or to let himself chicken out, Shu pressed his hand to the white entryway. It felt smooth to the touch. Not like a wooden door, more like a polished rock that had sat in a stream for ages. Or gold that had cooled beyond imperfection. An image popped into Shu's thoughts when he felt it. Of a giant floating orb in the stars. It made him ache like a homesickness he'd never felt before to see that orb in his mind's eye.

But then the door swung open, and Shu was distracted by the world in front of him.

It was not what Shu had been expecting. It wasn't the frozen desert from the Requiem project. It wasn't his childhood home, or even where he lived now. It wasn't the park or the beach or anywhere he would have thought had significance to him.

Instead, the inside of Shu's mind looked like a volcano that was on fire. Somehow, his head had managed to make lava ignite. The door opened up on what looked like some kind of hill. It was a very small step down onto the scorched white rock-looking ground. But even that was on a hill, overlooking the strange landscape of his brain.

Rivers of lava wove between the white rocks, creating a criss-crossing pathwork as far as the eye could see. Flames danced across the surface of these gleaming streams, and the stone as well. There were no trees, but there were pillars of twisting stone. Those almost resembled vegetation. It was all very craggy and uneven. Kind of like a lava level in a video game. This idea was supported by the sky. It didn't look like anything, ever on Earth.

The sky was red. That was the main color. A brilliant crimson the same color as Shu's skin right now. But there were also flecks of other colors in it. Gold and white both flicked in the sky, existing and then dissipating in a second. Like bubbles in a pot of water. All in all, the inside of Shu's head looked like some interpretation of Hell.

It was one of the most beautiful things the Spirit of Flame had ever seen.

"Woah," Shu breathed, slightly star struck. A chuckle came from behind him. Turning slightly around, he saw Valt with his shoulders slightly shaking. A smile was on the blue satyr-creature's face. "What?" the fiery blader asked with a smile. Something had just changed in his mood. Maybe it was seeing that he wasn't about to go through the requiem project again. Maybe it was spending quality time with his boyfriend. Maybe it was Valt's contagious grin.

Either way, the not-blue sky seemed a lot brighter than a few moments ago.

Tilting his head, Valt didn't stop smiling. Didn't stop being bright and cheery. "Nothing, just seeing you so impressed by your own head," he explained. Heh. That made sense. It also warmed Shu's heart a bit. Him being happy could help Valt be happy. Or, him being scared about a Requiem Project Part Two had been a bit of a downer on the mood.

For a moment, both Shu and Valt stood there. Then the former realized he was probably supposed to enter the landscape in front of him. Not just stand there in the doorway. Turning forward again, Shu studied the ground in front of him. It looked like he'd been right the first time. It wasn't a very far drop to the ground. With nothing more than a hop, the fiery blader felt his clawed feet hit the ground.