Eloquence

Shadow

The kitchen is full of candles. Kakyoin admires the way that the light rolls through the air in soft yellow waves.

Here is opportunity. Everyone is gathered together in the only illuminated section of the house. Surrounded by the company of these people, Kakyoin can finally work on his drawing in earnest. He walks to the edge of the pool of light and drinks in the interplay of fire and darkness.

"Avdol? Could you come with me for a bit?"

Avdol nods, picks up a candle. Kakyoin pushes the wheelchair out of the light and along to his room. 

"I've been working on something. Need a reference." Kakyoin holds the memory of the bright kitchen in his mind, even as the light recedes behind him. The single candle shudders with the motion of Avdol's wheelchair rolling against the floor. "Finally got one. I just... didn't want to go alone. Didn't want to bother Jojo again. And I needed you along, but I might change my mind. I don't know. I haven't... maybe this isn't a good idea, but I wanted to, before I forget." Kakyoin takes a breath. "Sorry for rambling." He moves into his room and picks up his sketchbook. "Pu-"

The words ball up in his throat, a solid, choking lump.

"Could you-" Kakyoin struggles to keep breathing. "Candle. Put out." 

Avdol hesitates, looks up at Kakyoin with the reflection of the flame dancing in his eyes. Kakyoin makes note of how they look. "I'm trying to draw you fighting the darkness with Magician's Red. So I need to draw darkness. And when the power went out, it brought back all the memories. I - this is good. I think."

Avdol blows out the candle and summons Red. Kakyoin lets the pencil sweep across his sketchbook without looking down, trying to encompass the sheer magnificence that is Magician's Red's dance.

"Incredible." 

"He is. My fire and fortune, my Magician's Red." Avdol doesn't speak often, now, with his voice still healing to its original tone. Kakyoin thinks this is a shame, since Avdol's voice has dropped to the mystic timbre of a fortune-teller. It is a voice that holds the knowledge of the unknowable, a voice that contains the power of darkness and the mastery of light. Magician's Red sways close enough that Kakyoin can hear the whisper of feathers under the sound of the flame. "My spirit, my guardian."

Shadows merge on the walls.

"And you, Kakyoin. Your passion cannot be smothered by darkness. You have-"

"KAKYOIN"

Kakyoin and Avdol freeze.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING TO MY GRANDSON?"

"Ah. Avdol. I'm sorry; I have to go kill Polnareff. Care to join me?"