AN: Sorry it took so long. This is one of the first times I've been able to access my internet in about a month. I swear, I've had this chapter ready to post for about 3-4 weeks, but I can just now post it. I'm a little worried that it might be confusing, so if it is, let me know and I'll explain it before the next chapter. A bit pathetic that I have to explain my explanations, but there you go. And I don't know how long it'll be until the next chapter because I've got finals coming up starting next week. Maybe I can cram something out during Christmas holiday.
Chapter 12
Heart of Chaos
Darkness and light swirled confusingly in Daisuke's vision, swapping back and forth at the edge of sight. He shook his head, strands of spiky red hair swaying with the movement as if underwater, then blinked several times. Still the opposites swam around in a chaotic battle for precedence in his mind. He couldn't think where he was, why he was here. As he focused on his elusive thoughts, his surroundings coalesced. It was so bright now, blinding in its brilliance, and before him…dark stretched before him, like the bottom of a tunnel. Darkness…something niggled at the edge of his memories. Yes, that was right. He headed single-mindedly, determinedly, toward the darkness. That's why I am here.
I still have to save Dark.
It felt as if his very existence was being shattered, the broken pieces of his being falling into the grasping void of chaos that was the flare of magic before him. He could feel it pulling at his fragmenting self, could feel it as the same happened to the blonde one across from him and the black-haired one who started it all. The pieces of themselves began warping in the chaos, staying as they ever were yet blending and merging to form something new.
The blackness that bound him splintered as the world that crushed him broke. But yet- as fast as he felt himself being destroyed by the breaking world he felt himself rejuvenated with a replenishing strength, an outside power, somehow at once strange and familiar, pulling him back from the brink of destruction. Lucidity slowly returned as he fought to pull the pieces of himself together, and he became painfully aware of the situation. The space across from him was empty, the other man having failed to resist the chaotic magic. A desperate, persistent cry added an eerie counter point to the blinding throb of light and dark that lay at the heart of the chaos. A desperate battle was going on in the center of the chaos, flashes of black and bright red thrashing about as two figures struggled around a third, unfamiliar statue. Black wings he hadn't noticed summoning beat powerfully against the failing world, thrusting him forward in a frantic attempt to separate three intertwined figures, as he knew deep down he must.
But he was too late.
Just as he reached his goal, he felt the chaotic magic lose its grip on him as the rejuvenating power finished its spell. The magic's grasp shifted as it recoiled from him, seeking a replacement for its lost component and fixating on the redhead near it. He tried to separate the two people and the statue, pulling with every bit of magic power and strength he possessed, but still he was blown backward by the chaos. His own cries echoed in his ears even as he realized that the cries from before had ceased. There was nothing more he could accomplish by staying here, so he salvaged what he could, wings beating a hasty retreat as the world finally dissolved about him. And just as he managed to escape with his silent burden, a lone familiar voice, twisted with mal-intent, echoed through his mind:
Poor Dark. Even in success, you have failed…
Bright violet eyes shot open as the words lingered in the air. Dark groaned as the memory slowly released its grip on him. Reality sunk in as he realized his lanky form had been laid along a comforting sofa in a living room bright with late morning light that chased away the darkness in his dream. He recognized it as the Niwas' home. He began to ease himself upright, but stopped as he felt a warm weight pressed tight against his chest. Raising a hand, he found a fluffy white ball curled up and slightly snoring.
"Wiz…" he said, gently stroking his old familiar.
"So you're finally awake. You always were a night person." Satoshi's cool voice quietly came from across the room. He glanced at what had captured Dark's attention. "He's been like that all night. We couldn't get him to leave your side." Wiz shifted slightly in his sleep, and Dark was able to see a small purple-pink bird snuggled against his belly, head under one wing and rocking slightly with his breathing. "And it'd be best not to wake her; she was up most of the night trying to find where the others went." Dark sneered and opened his mouth to make a smart remark at his old opponent, but stopped before he woke up the two on top of him. He sat up slowly, easing an arm under the two to support them as he shifted. Their slumber continued unbroken, the two cuddling into the crook of his arm as the Niwas entered the room, drawn by Satoshi's voice.
"Feeling better, Dark?" Daiki asked, "you've been asleep since yesterday afternoon."
"Yeah, well, you would too if you'd been stuck inside that damn mirror." Dark unconsciously rubbed with his free hand the place on his cheek where Luce had sliced him, underscoring the cockiness in his voice. He stopped suddenly, pulling his hand away from his face as he realized that an uncomfortable silence had fallen. He looked searchingly at the uneasy forms of Emiko and Kosuke before Satoshi spoke again.
"Daisuke's not in there with you, is he, Dark?" The blunt accusation cut through Dark, slicing him to his core and leaving him bare. "We had To-to look, but she couldn't find him."
Dark looked away from them now, avoiding their gazes. "No, he's not here."
"What happened, Dark?" Kosuke asked, stepping forward to place his hands on the back of the couch, Emiko hanging off of him worriedly. "We need you to tell us what's going on."
"I'm assuming Hiwatari told you that Luce took them inside the world of the Corinthian Mirrors. When he smashed the mirrors…" Dark paused, trying figure out how to put the confused sensations into words. He began explaining as best he could about the magic that had grabbed him, seeking to swallow him up and destroy him, about the second magic that had saved him and broke him free, about Daisuke being caught in the middle and trying and failing to save him. "But I don't understand what I'm doing here. How can I be here without Daisuke?"
"I think I can answer that." Satoshi said, pushing his glasses back up his nose with a finger. He reached down to where he and the Niwas had moved Daisuke's painting late last night. "Feel anything familiar?"
Dark looked hard at the painted canvas. "Its just a background and painting of a feather. What the hell am I supposed to f-?" He cut himself short, stopping mid-word as he realized that there was a strong magic power coming from the painting, and indeed a familiar one. It felt exactly the same as the magic that had saved him from Luce's spell.
"Is that…is that one of Daisuke's paintings?" he asked, incredulously. Satoshi nodded in the affirmative.
"Took you long enough. You know, it won first place in this year's art contest, and hung in the art hallway for sometime for all your little fan-girls to sigh over." He smirked at Dark's confused expression at the empty picture. "It also used to contain, not only the feather, but a single black-winged figure in silhouette. Our theory is that the emotions Daisuke felt while painting this, and those gathered while on display gave the painting power, just like a Hikari artwork." He placed the painting carefully back where he found it, then looked at Dark over the rims of his glasses, clear blue meeting deep violet amusedly. "It's just like with the Toki no Byushin, only this time, it's not she or Niwa in the painting; its you.
"Welcome to your new home, Dark," he remarked.
Dark was silent for a few seconds, then smirked, acting like his old, cocky self. "Well. That certainly explains a few things, like why I didn't disappear when the Corinthian Mirror shattered."
"But, Dark," Emiko said from behind Kosuke's shoulder, "What about Dai? He…he's not gone, is he?" She stared imploringly at him, and he was glad to see that, this time, she didn't seem like she was going to kill him.
"No, I don't think he's gone. That spell that Luce performed was designed to transfer the emotions from the Thousand Tears' Shine to give the statue life, give Luce control of the artwork. Oh, yeah, and it would also would have let him turn myself and Krad into his personal living batteries." Dark smiled reassuring at his surrogate mother.
"Since when did you know so much about the intimate workings of Hikari magic, Dark?" Satoshi asked harshly. The man hadn't known about the secrets of artworks like Sage of Sleep or the Toki no Byushin before, why should he start knowing secrets now?
"Since I was almost completely sucked into the whirling vortex of a spell that tried to meld me with a man who's lived with Hikaris for generations and the man who cast the stupid spell himself," he answered mockingly towards the former commander. "So I know a little about the inner workings of Luce's mind."
"So do you know what he's planning, Dark? Or maybe a way to rescue Daisuke?" Daiki asked.
Dark looked over at his former host and considered the question. "As far as I can tell, Daisuke is probably trapped somewhere inside that statue, what he called the Heart of Chaos. And I have just the thing to try to get him out." He patted his clothing before widening his eyes in surprise. "What the-?"
Emiko smiled smugly, then held out a small, abstract sculpture. It was the Portal of Art Dark had stolen from Luce before fleeing the Mirror. "What? I spent my whole motherhood teaching Daisuke the thieving trade, so I know a few things myself. Besides, I made that costume you're wearing; I know all the hidey-holes!"
"Well, that solves the problem of getting to Daisuke," Satoshi interjected, "but how are we supposed to find where he is? We don't have any clues where Luce-"
The phone jangled noisily, drowning out the end of his sentence. Kosuke looked around the room, then headed over to pick up the receiver. "Hello? Oh, Riku? About what happened yesterday?"
Dark was surprised by the statement. Riku was here yesterday? He started to ask about it, but stopped as Satoshi interrupted him.
"Miss Harada was visiting when Luce showed up yesterday," he stated plainly, as if he had known Dark was going to ask that. Based off of how much the boy had studied him, he probably had known. "She was also here when we came back. As far as I can gather, she became rather panicky when Daisuke didn't return, so the Niwas sent her home to get her out of the way and allow her to calm down." He remained facing Dark, but his eyes slid over to the telephone. "She was supposed to contact us if she saw or heard anything that might help." Satoshi looked back again as his cell phone rang in his pocket, and he left the room to take the call.
There came a murmur of thanks from Kosuke and a soft click as he hung up the phone. "It seems we're all going to get a clue really soon." He stepped around the couch, oblivious to the confused grimaces at his word play. Digging around for a little, he stood up triumphantly with the TV remote in hand. Ignoring the questioning looks, he turned on the television, flipping the channel to the news station Riku had told him to check out.
A woman was standing in front of a large crowd of gathered on-lookers, shouting factoids and rumors above the general murmur. Behind them, policemen barred their entrance to a forested area of the Azumano Park, Inspector Saehara and his men hunkered behind the red-and-blue-flashing vehicles, the only things visible through the dense trees. Every now and then flashes of dark color could be seen through the winter-stripped branches, accompanied by the occasional crash or rumble, presumably the unseen perpetrator wreaking destruction.
"Still no official word yet on exactly who the police are trying to catch, or even what the situation is. We have it from inside sources that the inspector has ordered every officer to remain silent with the press, though many in the crowd are willing to talk. Many accounts have told of a mysterious dark-winged figure, much like the infamous Phantom Thief Dark, though every report has said that this person is somehow different. This mystery man is being described simply as 'threatening.'"
"It's him," Dark said darkly, "It's Luce, inside the Heart of Chaos."
"That's not all, Dark," Satoshi said, slipping his phone back into his pocket and reentering the room. "That was Inspector Saehara. We have a problem."
AN: I know, that probably didn't do as much as you wanted. You want more with Daisuke, right? Well, you'll get more with him when I manage to work it in! But there should be a little more with him next chapter. But I'm going to make some big references to the manga next chapter and I know some of you haven't read it, so I have to figure out how to summarize what all you're going to need to know.
Anyway, let me know what you thought of this. Review!