Chapter 32 "Dark Love"

The hooded figure appeared on the edge of a long road leading up the side of a small mountain. He raised his face to the light of the moon shining down around him as he inhaled the air for what he sought. She was alone and very close.

He reached up and pulled the hood closer around his features… concealing himself from sight. His silver strands of long hair mingled with midnight locks and lay hidden beneath the cloak. Kyoko looked at the curving road ahead then looked at the slope right beside her that connected back to the same road further down. Seeing the shortcut, she decided to take the straight shot after having followed the winding road not to make enough distance to suit her.

She turned to the grass and raced through the shadows of the trees, knowing if she stayed straight, she would get there a lot faster. Once within the small patch of trees, she stumbled to a stop; feeling something nearby. She furrowed her brow in concentration as she reached for the crossbow on her back and notched a spirit dart against its taunt string. All she could hear was her own breath in the night air around her. Kyoko stood her ground as she turned in a circle trying to find her target. The shallow moonlight played silently through the leaves of the trees, making everything within look eerie. Still, she would not back down. She tried to hide the shudder that ran through her body at the amount of evil she felt surrounding her. Toya stood motionless deep within the shadows as he watched her raise her bow. She slowly turned, facing him but he didn't even flinch, as she kept rotating not seeing him. The memory of another spirit dart being pointed at him once before seemed to ricochet through his mind. The difference in the memory was that now he was not looking through the eyes of a watch-ling. His eyes trailed her body, her skin so pale against the short dark skirt and her face glowing against the backdrop of her dark auburn hair.

His eyes began to glow golden with the sight of her as he whispered. "You would shoot me, Kyoko?" Kyoko heard the whisper from the darkness and spun around trying to find it, still not liking the vibes she was getting from the unseen evil with the soft voice. This feeling she had was like a nightmare from not so long ago, seemingly to equal the same vibes as Hyakuhei… but altered in some way.

Her back straightened and her chin lifted, as she seemed to hone in on the source and point the spirit dart directly into the darkness. "Show yourself coward!" Toya smirked under the cloak seeing her defiance. She would not shoot until she knew what she was shooting at. He knew this much even as he watched indecision flicker across her emerald orbs.

His eyes narrowed as he watched the bow string grow tight against the back of the spirit dart. Had she really changed that much? Had she changed enough to shoot into the darkness not knowing the target? The wind came from behind her, blowing her scent to him and his eyes darkened. He could smell his brother on her. Kyoko felt a shift in the wind then a movement of the evil. She twisted around feeling it circling her. She felt the hair on the back of her neck start to stand on end as she heard her name whispered from the right. "Kyoko." As she twisted to the right, ready to shoot, the voice came from the left.

"Kyoko." The sound kept switching sides leaving her confused. "Who are you?" Kyoko cried out, becoming a little frightened. The voice sounded like the whispers of a hundred demons all at once but within it, something seemed familiar. She felt arms go around her waist, pulling her back tightly against a firm chest and she froze.

The hands felt sensual splayed across her ribs, as if… she knew this touch. Toya kept her from turning around as he held her tight only to whisper in her ear. "You smell like him, you know." Then he disappeared again. Kyoko swung around trying to see whom the arms had belonged to but could only see the forest around her. Her eyes widened at the words she had heard. The voice that had been in her ear, she knew that voice.

"Toy…ya?" She mouthed the word with almost no sound. Her heart thumping so hard she could barely hear the name as it left her lips. She felt a pain slice through her heart at the memory of him still so fresh in her mind. "Tell me, Kyoko!" The voice screamed in rage from one side, only to whisper from the other. "Why are you with him?" The last voice had sounded so sad. Kyoko's crossbow started shaking and she slowly lowered it. Why did it have his voice? Her body jerked as the voice shouted at her again. "Why did you take the guardian heart crystal from us?" She could hear the deep breaths in the darkness. "Why did you leave me to die!?" The voice sounded warped from so many voices… but the echo was Toya's soft voice.

Kyoko couldn't move… she could barely even breath as guilt began to wash through her as the voice continued. "Now I'm like him." Toya whispered from the darkness, never taking his eyes off her then shouted. "Now I'm like Hyakuhei was!" Kyoko dropped her bow to the ground, a sob escaping her in the silence and her eyes filling with tears. "It's a lie!" Her voice broke with another sob. "It's a lie!" She screamed back out at the darkness. "If you were Toya you would show yourself!" She yelled in anguish. She gasped and took a quick step back as a cloaked figure materialized in front of her. The face shadowed from the moonlight, hidden deep inside the hood. So much evil standing in front of her made her legs feel weak. Kyoko took another step back as it came closer, her eyes searching the darkness within the hood.

Her breath becoming quicker when she caught a glimpse of blood red eyes staring back at her and she stumbled backward, almost falling but somehow keeping from doing so. "Toya?" Her voice quivered with fear. `No, this doesn't feel like Toya.' She thought as a chill crawled up her spine. This was the same as the dream. Was she dreaming again? She felt something solid stop her retreat.

Reaching behind her without taking her eyes from what stood in front of her, she felt the tree behind her as her bottom lip began to tremble. She could only stare as he came closer. Toya could feel the fear radiating off her and the demons began to come to life within him. He tried to control them but they were feeding off her fear and the power of the guardian heart crystal that they hungered for.

"Don't be afraid." He hissed, knowing the demons were trying to control his actions. He would not let them harm her… but they would not keep him from her either. He closed the distance between them on silent feet. Kyoko pressed herself against the bark of the tree, too paralyzed to move as he walked within reaching distance of her. She was looking up at him as he reached and pulled the hood from his head, his dark hair spilling out, glittering with silver highlights, and his features perfection.

His eyes were what held her attention. She saw an ocean of blood in his eyes and then all became a blur as her eyes began to swim with tears. This was Toya. She knew it without a doubt now but her eyes widened, realizing what he had meant when he said he was like Hyakuhei. The evil inside him was parallel if not stronger than the evil that had been in Hyakuhei. She knew all those demons she had abandoned him with were now inside him. It was her fault… even he blamed her. 'But he is alive.' Her heart cried as she reached a hand out to touch his flawless cheek. "What have they done to you?" She cried then propelled herself forward into his arms. She didn't care if he ripped her apart. He was alive! As soon as his arms wrapped around her, Toya pushed the evil back forcefully so he could hold her. He slid his fingers into her silky hair, cupping the back of her head, his other hand pressing into the small of her back, molding her to him. He felt the blood leave his eyes for a moment as he whispered. "I have waited so long for you… over a thousand years."

He could feel his heart bleeding painfully in his chest. "I love you." His soft voice was ragged with emotion. Kyoko slowly lifted her face to look at his when she heard the words, ‘I love you’ in Toya's own voice and her eyes widened with astonishment as she locked eyes with eyes of pure gold. It was Toya… Her Toya.

Just as she was going to say the words back to him, his lips crashed down on hers in desperation and she closed her eyes wanting the kiss more than he would ever know. Toya leaned her head back for better access, still cupping her head in his clawed hand, deepening the kiss, tasting her for the first time in over a thousand years. It was like yesterday to him as the sensations rushed through his body. He made love to her lips, his need for her building with the delicious want to be inside her, deep inside her.

His nostrils flared as he breathed in Kyou's scent where it still clung to her. He felt his anger spike as his kiss became more demanding, trying to sear his brother's scent from her. But it was too late as he felt his mind losing control with the jealousy. Kyoko felt the change in the kiss but was not willing to push him away. His lips almost savage on hers as tears sprang to her eyes but still she pushed back against his lips, uncaring even when she tasted her own blood. This was Toya and he was kissing her. His being alive was all she could think of. Toya groaned as he felt fire began to flow through his veins, into every nerve ending on his body. He tasted the blood from her lips. The power of the guardian heart crystal hummed in the taste and he had no power to stop himself from what he did next. Kyoko could feel his hand caressing her back then slide around to her side, slipping underneath her shirt to caress his way up her ribs. Her heart clenched in fear as his lips jerked away from hers and pain erupted from her chest as his claw broke through her skin.

Jerking her eyes to his, she opened her mouth in a silent cry as his clawed fingers dug into her flesh for the guardian heart crystal. His eyes were now crimson but shedding real tears as if he was doing it against his will.

"Forgive me!" He screamed as light exploded around them and he withdrew his hand, grasping the sacred crystal in his now bloodied claw.

Kyoko couldn't keep the scream from escaping as the wound closed painfully behind his hand but didn't completely seal… leaving it burning as if lit by fire. Her body broke out in a sweat, her breathing ragged.

He let go of her as she stumbled backward and fell grasping her chest in agony, still in shock at what he had just done to her. He was supposed to love her. She was now sitting on the ground at his feet, trying to understand what had just happen.

Her eyes jerked up to his and fixed… now full of confusion and betrayal. Toya felt the guardian heart crystal in his hand. He could feel the power flowing from it. His body shuttered, as he raised the sphere up in front of them so they could both see. His demonic eyes caressed it like a lover would as it swirled its blue storm inside the sphere.

As he watched in fascination, his eyes caught a glimpse of his clawed fingers holding the sphere and the blood that dripped from them. ‘Kyoko's blood.’ His eyes snapped back to the sphere as the colors began to crackle within it. Gray and black began melding with the pure blue, overpowering purity with evil. The sobbing finally reaching his ears, ‘Kyoko's sobs.’

Toya’s heart slammed against his chest. "What have I done?" He looked beyond the thunderstorm inside the crystal, to the girl who now sat in the grass crying. He felt his tortured heart shatter into a million pieces. Kyoko watched as the guardian heart crystal fell from his hand and hit the ground, still crackling with evil. Her tears fell freely, splashing in the grass. She could see his feet still next to the crystal but she refused to raise her eyes to his. The pain was overwhelming and all she could do was cry.

She didn't know what hurt worse, the fact that he had his hand inside her for a moment or the fact that he had done it at all. Toya watched the tears roll down her pale cheeks as the demons inside urged him to pick the powerful crystal back up. His muscles tensed as he fought for control and strained to keep from doing as the voices urged him to do. "No… I won't… I won't do it… " He whimpered brokenly as he stumbled back a step. He still held his bloody claws in front of him as if trying to acknowledge what he had done to Kyoko. The only one he had ever loved and he had hurt her, ‘for what?’

His anger rose to an insane level as a deafening roar left his lips, full of fury and pain. With the sound, all hell broke lose as the ground began to vibrate and the air around them began to move in a circular motion, giving birth to a whirlwind that surrounded them. Kyoko clamped her hands over her ears as a sound began to come from him as if all the demons were screaming at once and she felt the earth quake beneath her violently. Drawing her knees up to shield herself from the unknown, she added her own ear splitting wail to the sound as the guardian heart crystal raised from the grass as if having a life of its own.

Hovering there, it began to spin as the sound grew even louder. Toya and Kyoko's anguished cries amplified. Lightening bolts swarmed around the outer edges of the guardian heart crystal then it ominously froze in mid rotation… instantly shattering. Beams of light shot straight up into the sky, sending shimmers of light and darkness everywhere like fireworks, only to turn… coming straight back at them. Kyoko's eyes closed right before impact as her body was jarred forward then slammed backwards. All sound had stopped with the first impact. She had expected pain but could feel none, only heat when the crystal talismans entered her leaving no evidence behind that they had done so.

As they rained down on her, her eyes fluttered open trying to link with Toya's form in the streaks of light that surrounded them. Toya stood motionless, his face rose to the sky. His body glowing as the talismans entered him… just as fast as they were entering her. She tried to rise up to a kneeling position but the gravity was too much for her and her eyes fluttered closed just as the ground rose up and met her. Toya opened his eyes just as the last of the tiny crystals entered them, the power humming throughout him… now deep within his blood. His eyes were caught between pink and silver, both sides of him unwilling to give up its part of control. His gaze lowered to Kyoko's body lying still and silent in the grass. His pink eyes seemed to soften as he walked to her, bending down he reached out, laying his hand against her cheek. He could still feel her heart beating strong. He knew she would be all right then his eyes caught the sight of blood on her cheek where he had caressed her with his thumb and he pulled his hand away.

Toya could still see the blood on his hand where he had thrust it inside of her so cruelly. He clenched his fist in denial. The last thing he had wanted to do was hurt her. He now had half of the guardian heart crystal but Kyoko still had the other half inside her. Toya knew that until he won control over his darker side, he would only hurt her again. The demons inside him were stronger now… but so was he.

His thoughts turned to the city where he could feel the battle still raging. He didn't understand why the guardian heart crystal had shattered or why half had sought him and half had sought Kyoko. One thing he did know was he had get far away from her for now.

“To keep you safe from… me." His heartbreak could be heard in his voice. "I will come back for you." Leaning over her, he kissed her gently on the cheek. "I am sorry, Kyoko." Toya whispered as he watched a tear fall from his cheek and land on hers. Straightening, he disappeared as if he had never been there.

A moment later the city grew quiet when the evil spirits that had survived the battle return to the master as he silently called for them.

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