Forgiving Light

Chapter 34

~Black Mist~ Miza and I make our way to Tsukumo's house. I've made sure that he's under my control before we arrive. I want things to go as smoothly as possible.

When we reach the house, I see Tsukumo already outside and waiting for us. He's standing still, unmoving. I haven't yet given him permission to move from that spot. I grin.

"Yuma," I hiss, playing with Dark's soul to keep my hands busy. I absorb bits of it at a time to enjoy it. "Come here."

Yuma turns to me with his attentive eyes. Since he's my puppet now and not just a minion, he still has some control over what he does, but only if those actions go with my desires. He walks casually over to me, as if we're just friends hanging out.

"You know what to do, don't you?" I purr coming face-to-face with him. "I don't need to explain it again, don't I?"

"Yes," he says with a curt nod.

"Oh, of course you do! You're my loyal little puppet; I don't have to tell you what to do!" I grin, giving his ear a little tweak. "Just a reminder for today's meeting, it's today at midnight. See you there, and remember to bring the others." I release my hold on him as Miza and I go away.

"Where are we going now?" she asks.

"To corrupt more people." I grin.

~Astral~ "Open the door," I command. "And don't put him to sleep. I wish to see if he will recognize me after all this time."

The two guards in charge of the door comply, and they step aside. Without warning, Black Mist lunges at me from the back of the cell with a snarl, his newly-developed tendrils shooting toward me. He is immediately silenced when one of the Agents pulls a lever. The tendrils dissolve into the ground.

"I apologize, Agent 12, but it had to be done. Now, do what you wish to do."

I nod and go forward. I crouch down to Black Mist's level, and I start to talk.

"Hello, Nii-chan," I whisper, caressing his cheek. "How have you been?"

He doesn't give me a response as usual. I know that he has not been well, though. I can see it in the troubled way he sleeps. My smile fades.

"I'm trying, I really am, but I cannot find a way to get you out. To make it up to you, I will get you out. I will." I bring my voice down to a whisper. "Even if it means taking your evil into me so that you won't have to deal with this. I would switch places with you, I really would." I get up again and get out, looking back at him regretfully. Just leaving him there seems wrong.

"How long do you plan on visiting him," one guard asks, closing the door and bolting it shut. "If you keep skipping training, you will never advance to 24."

"For as long as I have free time," I mumble. I sigh and go back to the training field, where all the other Agents-in-training fight.

"You will not be seeing him after the execution," the other one says.

I stop. "Wh-WHAT!?" I whip back to them. "What do you mean!? What execution!?"

"Nobody told you? There will be an execution for Number 96 three weeks from now."

I look back to the door containing Onii-sama. "Nii-chan..." I turn back to the guard. "I want him to at least see me one last time before that," I request.

The guard gives me a somber look. "We will try, but we cannot guarantee that it will happen."

~Dark Astral~ "What are you doing?" the Light Forces demand, pinning me into the corner. "What do you think you will accomplish!?"