Nightshade

luka - light at the end of the tunnel

Lukas was in a hellish world,  filled with misery,  agony,  and not the slightest bit of control... he felt himself detaching from his body as he was violated and ruined,  broken entirely.  He felt his soul on the verge of shattering,  when the cabin window burst open,  and luka's destroyed but still healing body was given a moments rest.  Raguel was back,  new scars on his arm, hands, and head. "You little bitch Nathan! You really fucking forgot who of us is in control?!" Nathan laughed,  drool and gore all over his face.  He looked... truly demonic.  Ascendant.  Triumphant. Positively glowing. They launched themselves at each other,  and fought a while,  till once again,  Nathan won,  but he was left panting,  some of the blood on him was no longer others. He stood shakily,  and once again,  raguel came crashing through a window. Luka watched  numbly as they fought,  knowing whoever won would simply continue this hell. They fought over and over,  Nathan winning every time,  but every time,  it got closer,  he was being beaten down,  his soul being plunged into submission. Finally,  raguel stood over Nathan's body,  his healing unable to keep up with the beating. Luka was fully healed by b this point though... he could escape... hope, for the first time in what felt like an eternity,  shone through.  He began to run clumsily,  rag shouting something after him.  Suddenly, he felt an impact against his head,  and it all went black. He awoke, being dragged with some sort of heavy weight on his ankles, towards a river. He whimpered in fear. He knew he wouldn't die... no matter how bad he wished it could,  he had yet to find something that he couldn't heal from, apart from fire and iron, and even then, that healed,  just not pretty. He clawed at the scarred hand dragging him,  croaking begs, but raguel just laughed hatefully. "You. " He panted,  "are entirely too much trouble. Nathan will never find you again,  and then he'll come to his senses." Fear clawed and tore at him,  he tried everything he could to get free,  but raguel ignored the pain and cries. He grunted with effort,  and time seemed to slow. A car peeled by as he seemed to float, in midair, and he sank below the waves. He heard,  mutedly, banging and musical noises, as water filled his lungs. For a moment,  all went dark,  and he was blissfully unaware. Then,  he was back,  drowning all over again.  He drowned, over and over and over,  till his mind began to detach again. This... was the end...

Suddenly,  a strong hand pulled him out of the water. Shavronne stood before him,  as he vomited water, and he looked into the others eyes,  and began sobbing as he clung to the man's free arm as another person untied his feet from the rock. Strong, caring arms held him close,  petting his soaked hair,  and he just lay there, sobbing. There were still those musical sounds in the background,  and Shavronne said something Luka couldn't understand to the other figure.  They were moving,  Shavronne grunting in... pain? As he carried Luka to the car.  He looked behind them,  to see a still heavily wounded Nathan and raguel fighting intensely against two beautiful figures,  one wearing a green dress,  and the other wearing an indigo cape and white clothes. The indigo figure danced between his captors,  his pink hair flowing as symbols on the ground began to glow. The figure in green sang something,  and struck a rock against the ground,  making a sound like a drum, and both Nathan and raguel froze.  They were suspended,  as if by strings,  and the two figures ran over,  yelling for the cars doors to be opened.  They all got in,  panting,  and Luka continued to cling to shavronne.  They all were talking,  arguing,  Shavronne seemed angry,  but they finally left,  Shavronne sounding just relieved more than anything else.  He looked down at Luka, who was still dissociating, and he smiled softly,  brushing tears and water from his face. "You're safe,  Libelle." Luka felt his vision darken, and he fell back into merciful sleep.

Luka awoke in his old bed in the manor to the soft sunlight beaming in his eyes. He got up,  and looked around.  He prayed this was real.  That this wasn't a dream or a trick.  He was dressed in the comfortable nightclothes they made for him.  He looked at Jeremy on the windowsill,  he looked to be doing better than ever.  He stood and walked shakily to the plant.  He winced and whimpered a bit as he felt at his abdomen. There were still bandages around it, clean and carefully applied. He talked to Jeremy softly,  crying and peeling off the bandages. There was an ugly burn scar,  mostly healed,  from the poker going into him. He rubbed the scar tentatively, and he bit his lip,  the gentle touch still sending a little pain through him.  He looked in the mirror and closed his eyes as he saw the awful scar. "At least... i-it's real..." He sat back down and curled up in the sun,  laying there for who knew how long before Friedrich came in,  sitting beside him silently. For a while,  they just sat there.  Eventually,  Friedrich spoke. "My name is Cody.  Well my first name... I went through an ordeal like yours.  And at the hands of one of the men who attacked you. Raguel... der kleine Dämon..." Luka looked up at him as he sat up a bit,  sniffling "w-what... what h-happened? How did y-you survive?" Luka looked over at the man,  who had a pained look in his eyes.  "Once... I was shavronnes guardian angel. Literally. I was one of the only angels left in the world,  my brother everest was killed,  and my mother, erianna, went dormant,  leaving this plane. I watched over Shavronne.  He was so troubled.. I didn't know what to do.  When him and his family came to America,  I came to earth,  took physical form.  Like you,  I hid my wings. I befriended him,  tried to teach him what I could.  But... when his mother took him into those waters... he died,  and I wasn't there. I lost a great deal of my power,  and there was a boy creeping in the woods. Raguel. He attacked me in my weakness. Tore. At me. At my... my wings... mein Gott... das Böse..." tears gathered in his eyes "I was never all that strong for an angel,  and in that state... I was so shocked... I never stood a chance.  He ripped my wings from my back,  and fed on my holy blood.  Shavronne found me,  newly resurrected by some evil I didn't protect him from.  He was different. And yet,  he was still the same. A hurting, lonely child. Used by those around him.  But he took me home.  And he nursed me back to health. I vowed to serve him,  and so I have.  I never knew what became of raguel... till those two days ago." He wiped away his tears as Luka looked at him.  He stayed silent a moment.  "Y- you... d- don't owe anyone strength. Y- you're kind,  and loyal... y- you and sh- Shavronne came back... for me. You saved me." Cody looked at him "May I embrace you?" Luka nodded,  and they shared an emotional hug.  When they broke away,  Cody stood.  "Let us go.  The others are waiting for us." Luka stood as well,  but looked around "I'll be there in a moment... I need some... time." Cody nodded and walked out.