Forgiving Light

Chapter 5

Part 1 1/2

~Dark Astral~

"What intrigues me is the fact that you're bleeding out, but you don't seem affected by it," Nebula says as he cleans and covers my many wounds. "You should be unconscious right now."

"Meh." I shrug, and that simple movement causes a jolt of pain through my chest. "I have my ways." Right now, all I want to do is collapse and sleep.

Nebula finishes covering the wounds, and he mutters a spell to help the healing process. "These wounds are serious, Dark!" he warns. "You're wounds before these didn't even heal, and now you have more. Be careful! Don't do anything that will open these wounds."

I huff and fly up to my gear at the top. No one tells me what to do! I'll do what I want, whenever I want. I sit down and cross my arms, watching the four regroup and discuss some things. I tune my ears in to the conversation.

"So, what was that all about?" Nebula asks, starting the conversation.

"That poison blood," Justice adds with a nod.

"It is very peculiar indeed," Astral agrees, leaning against a gear. "How does blood become poison?"

"Could it be actual poison in his veins?" Asterite adds.

"No. He said that if enough blood is exposed, it will turn into poison. Why would he lie about that?"

I roll my eyes. No shit. My blood is blood until enough of it hits the air. I wasn't lying about that. Now, Brother's blood. That's another matter entirely. It's special. Poison from the moment he was born.

"You're right," Justice mutters. Then, he looks to Astral. "Hey, are you sure we can trust him? He is evil, after all."

"Who? Dark?"

"Yes. How do you know he isn't going to backstab us when he gets the chance? Who's going to stop him?"

"We have a deal," Astral explains calmly. "He does nothing of mischief, and I tell no one of his existence. He keeps his word, I keep mine. Simple."

I growl. I jump off and land lightly in front of them. "You're doubting my trust? I'm just as trustworthy as Astral!" I glare at Justice. To Astral, I ask, "Have I gone back on any of our deals, Astral?"

"None," he confirms calmly.

I storm up to Justice. "So, don't you ever say that I can't be trusted!"

"Wow, touchy," he mutters, looking away from me.

"Damn right I'm touchy!" I go back to my place and resume listening.

"He has ears like a bat," Astral explains. "Beware of what you say around him. He is like Black Mist. Completely unpredictable."

"And touchy," Nebula adds.

"Yes. Extremely touchy."

"Hey, we shouldn't get too off track," Asterite says.

"Yes," Astral agrees. "Speaking of touchy, I need to discuss this with Yuma. He gets lonely if I am not around."

The three nod, and Astral, with Shiro on his shoulder, disappears from the Key. I jump from gear to gear, getting lower with each jump until I'm sitting on the one in front of the three.

"So, let's recap," I begin.

"Wait, who made you in charge?" Justice demands.

"Well, I'm still Astral, aren't I? A different, evil version of Astral, but I'm still Astral. Just as smart and twice as strong. So, what have we got?"

Nebula, who doesn't seem to mind that I've taken charge, responds, "We know that there is more evil, and it's possibly spreading."

"The one that's infected is human, and she's a familiar one," Asterite adds.

"Right! That means that Brother has already started to take root in the pure souls," I say approvingly. "It's only a matter of time before they're all tainted, so Astral has to mark some as his own."

"We still have to come up with a plan to capture him," Justice adds somewhat reluctantly. I guess he doesn't like me! "How do you suggest we do it?"

"Ah, that's where everything goes splat! You believe you need a plan! What happened to 'He'll know everything we plan'? What we need to do is lure Brother into a corner and keep him there. To do that, you need to chase him. It may take some time, but it'll work."

"That's actually a really good idea," Justice mumbles, but I can still hear it.

"I'm sorry, what?" I tease, making the other two giggle. "I couldn't hear you!" I stand on the gear with my feet planted firmly on it. "Anyways, all you have to do is keep chasing Brother until he explodes. When that happens, you guys can just go all out. Aside from this one, make no plans whatsoever! When he runs out of steam," -I make a slashing motion at my neck- "we go in." I grin widely.

"How will we know when we have him trapped, though?" Asterite asks dubiously. "For all we know, he might be planning the same thing."

"That's the best part of all this!" I clap my hands together. "We have no idea what to expect! That mere thought gives me such a rush!"

"Okay, but this is a mission," Justice points out. "It's not supposed to be fun."

"Oh, brighten up, Killjoy! Who says that it's not supposed to be fun?"

This brings silence from the Warrior.

"Exactly," I giggle. "Now, when do you guys want to start?"

The three talk amongst themselves for a while.

"Maybe we should talk to Astral about it," Nebula suggests.

"Astral's well aware of this conversation," I point out. "Technecally, you're still talking to him, remember?"

"Okay, so how about tomorrow?"

Astral listens, and he agrees. "He agrees," I say. "That'll be enough time to get ready, I think."

Nebula then looks to my stab wound. "I told you not to open any wounds," he sighs.

"Ah, leave it. It's not a big deal," I say with a dismissive wave. "It's not like it'll get infected or anything."