Welcome to the revised version of V’s
original, anime-inspired story! A tale of high fantasy complete with magic,
psionics, freaky monsters, and pretty boys falling for other pretty boys! Now,
if the idea of demons, wizards, and witches being main characters offends you,
then what in the fugging hell are you doing here?! Some goes for any serious homophobes out there. Like I said
earlier, the will be shouen-ai (boy in love with another boy) subplots, so
don’t flame me about it if those sort of relationships bother you. Any other
warnings…umm… The characters all belong to me and this story is my idea, so NO STEALING! Now, let me proudly present:
The Darkest Light
PART 1: A
Warm Welcome
The match flared as he
lighted the first cigarette for the day. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be
smoking at all, but he did it any way. The worse punishment he had ever gotten
was a lecture.
“Now Arty,” Uncle Nev would say
whenever he caught him. “You mustn’t do that my boy. It’ll stunt your growth!”
‘Stunt my growth?’ He was just
fifteen and already six foot two. How much more growing did he need? Arty
sighed and walked into the bathroom. He had just gotten out of the shower when
a small boy with glass bounded into the room.
“ARTY!” He pounced on him, pinning
Arty to the bed. “Guess what today is!”
“It’s Saturday, Charlie.” He
grumbled in a monotone. “Now, can you please get off me so I can get dressed?”
Charlie giggled and shook his head
with an impish grin. “It’s not just any old Saturday!” He sat up so that he was
now straddling Arty’s stomach. “Today is a very special day.”
He sighed. “Alright, alright! So
just what is so special about it any way?”
“I can’t tell you. You’ll have to
guess!”
“Dammit Charles!” He snapped,
glaring up at the blonde boy. “I’m not in the mood for this crap!”
“Ooooh…! I hate it when you call me
Charles!” He rolled over so that they now lay side by side. “You forgot didn’t
you, Artemis.”
“Forgot? Forgot!” He sat up on his
elbows. “Forget that we’re going to the Lazarus Academy? How could I? It’s all
you’ve talked about since your birthday!”
“But Arty…” Charlie snuggled up to
him and started playing with a strand of his long, wet hair. “We’re going to be
on our own there! There’ll be all sorts of new people to met, things to do, places
to see…” Smiling, he pressed against him and tickled his nose with it. “And
then there’s all the things we’ll learn together.”
Artemis squirmed away, blushing
furiously. “Look, if you’re so eager to get there, then let me get dressed!”
“Okay!” Charlie hopped off the bed
and went to the door. “But don’t take forever like you usually do!”
~*~*~*~
“Sergeant Marlin,” The driver turned
up the road and drove slowly through the lush woodland. “We’re almost there.”
One of the shadowy figures nodded smartly.
“I know.”
The sleek, black Benz glided to a
stop in front of a large, rather modest Victorian style house. Out of it step
two figures, a tall, grim-faced youth with crew-cut violet hair and aviator
glasses and a lean Asian woman in a battered bush-hat and leather jacket. The
duo, stern and ominous, walked up to the door and rang the bell.
“Yes?” The butler looked each one
over nervously.
The youth spoke first. “We’re here
for Master Charles.”
The butler nodded and stepped aside.
“I’ll go get them, sir. Please, come inside. You may wait in the parlor.” He
gestured to a pleasant little room off to the side before vanishing up the
staircase.
The woman immediately plopped down
into an armchair, musing. “Them?” She took her glasses off and started cleaning
them. “I thought the guild master only had a son.”
The youth stood stiffly at the
doorway. “Perhaps, Dr. Jones, you misunderstood him.” As he spoke, he never
took his eyes off the staircase. “After all, you have quite a habit of letting
little things slip by you.”
“Listen here, Marlin.” She growled,
shoving her glass back into place. “I maybe a bit absentminded, but I think I’d
remember something like…” Her retort was cut short by the arrival of two boys.
“Hello.” Piped the first, a pretty
little blonde who had one of the most charming smiles Jones had ever seen. The
second boy, taller and dark-haired, came in so quietly that neither she nor
Marlin would’ve noticed him except for the glaring white strips in his bangs.
“Good
morning, sirs.” Marlin sneered, glaring steadily at the new arrival. “We
were sent to escort Master Charles to the academy.”
“Whoa, that’s really great of you guys!” Charlie
turned to his companion. “See Arty? I told you dad would ask someone to pick us
up.”
“I beg your pardon Master Charles, but we were sent
to take only you.” There was venom in his voice. “Other arrangements have been
made for your companion here.
“What do you mean by ‘other arrangements’?”
“Master Charles, Lazarus is a mages-only school.
Owing to the fact that this ‘Arty’ lacks any true ability to use magic,
it is therefore the academy’s duty to decline his application.”
“What?!”
Jones spoke up, her voice soft and calming. “Well
Charlie, it’s like this: Arty here is not actually a mage. He’s an esper, or
what laymen would call a ‘psychic.’ That means his gifts, while they may often
manifest themselves in such a way that they would appear to be a spell, they’re
actually using mind power and not mana like yours would do. I’m sorry if it
seems mean of us not to let you two stay together, but it’s the schools rules.”
She leaned forward and whispered into his ear. “Personally, I’m dead set
against most of them.” Then she turned and grinned at Artemis. “But you don’t
need to worry, Arty-kun. You’ve been accepted to Saint Joan’s, a very
prestigious school and training center for people with talents like yours.”
“But Artemis…”
“It’s okay, Charlie.” He put his hand gently on the
boy’s shoulder. ‘We’ll see each soon enough.’
“Great!” Jones chirped, giving Artemis a friendly
little hug. “There’ll be an car coming to for you in about twenty minutes.”
“Dr. Jones, we must be on our way.” Marlin growled
and slowly, almost protectively, put his arm around Charlie’s shoulders,
pulling him away from Artemis. As he did, his glass slipped and for a brief
moment, his steely glaze met Artemis’. There was pure hatred burning in those
strange green eyes, cat eyes with golden slits at their center. Quickly, he
pushed them back into place and, along with the doctor, leading Charlie and Jones
to the door. He paused, letting them walk out first before he turned back to
Artemis. “I would advise you to cease all contact with Master Charles, lest I’m
forced to take action against you.”
“Is that a threat, Marlin?”
“No.” His voice dripped with deadly malice. “It’s a
promise.”
~*~*~*~
“Good day, Artemis.” She smiled
warmly at him. “My name is Miss Evangail, and I’ll be your academic counselor.”
“Uh…it’s nice to meet you, madam.”
“Would you care to come into my
office for a moment.” She led him into a tasteful little office. “Please have a
seat.”
As if on
command, a chair slid over to him. “What do you need to see me about, ma’am?”
“I’m glad
you asked.” Her smile never wavered as she took a sheet of paper and a package
out form under her desk and gave them to him. “I’m going to give you your
schedule for the year and your uniform…”
“Uniform?”
“Yes.” She took out a booklet and hand it to him.
“We have a dress code here at Saint John’s. We require our students to wear a
white shirt and pants or an appropriate skirt. It’s all covered in detail in
the student handbook.”
“Okay.” He glanced at its cover. There was one of
those pyramids like the kind on the back of a dollar bill surrounded by a
circle of weird squiggles and lines. “What does this stand for?”
“It’s the crest of the Esper Guild. You’ll learn all
about the different guilds soon enough, Artemis, so let’s not worry about that
right now.”
“I already know about them.” He put the handbook on
top of the other thing. “It’s just that I was wondering what the writing…”
“Stood for?” Evangail seemed very amused by his
comment. “It’s the ancient Guildsman tongue. It says ‘We are those who…”
“Seek enlightenment within the sea of souls.’” He
had a distant look in his eyes as he spoke.
“That’s absolutely perfect.” She gasped in
amazement. “I didn’t sense anything about a work knowledge of the Guilds within
you.”
“Huh…” Artemis blinked and looked around like he had
just woken up. “What did you say?”
“Nothing… Let’s move along, shall we.” She took out
a small metal cube and, squeezing it slightly, sat it on the desk. “I want give
you a little quiz.”
“You’re going to ask me if I can lift that cube
without touching it, aren’t you?”
“Why, yes…yes that was exactly what I wanted you to
do.” ‘He’s penetrated my mind block with barely any effort.’
“What’s a ‘mind block’?”
“You’ll find out soon. That is why you’re here,
after all. Now, can you please lift this?”
“Alright.” Taking a deep breath, Artemis stared at
the cube. Slowly, it began to lift off of the desk. He made it hover about a
foot or so in the air. Suddenly, the cube lurched up into the air and came
crashing back down. It hit the desk with enough force to create a deep crack in
the wood. Artemis slump down in his chair, gasping in pain. “I’m…I’m sorry! It
just…became to hard to hold it any longer.”
“I’m not worried about the desk.” She walked over to
him, her brow furrowed in concern. “Do you want me to take you to the nurs…”
“No. I’ll be alright.” His breathing was slowly
going back to normal. “I just need to rest for a second.”
“Are you sure you don’t need to lay down or
something?”
“Yeah…I’m sure.” Artemis stood up slowly, shaking
slightly. “I think I’ll go to the dorm now.”
“Alright.” Evangail hand him his things and a key.
“You’re in room #34R, third floor, of the South Wing. I’ll send someone up to
check on you soon, just in case.”
“Okay.” He left her office very pale and drained.
‘There’s something deeply troubling about that young
man…’
~*~*~*~
Marlin marched stiffly down ahead of
Charlie, leading him down the winding halls and up several flights of stairs.
At the top of the last flight, there was a wide, circular landing of gray-blue
marbles. Doorways radiated off it like the spokes of a wheel. As he looked up
at the ceiling, Charlie gasped in amazement. Above them arched an immense dome
of gleaming, gemlike stained glass held together by intricately curved bars of
wrought iron. Circling around the dome were clockwork figurines, planets, and
stars made from bronze, all covered with gold and silver gilding.
“Master Charles,” Marlin shot him an
icy glance. “Please quit gawking at the dome and follow me.” He turned down one
of the hallways, not bothering to wait for Charlie to catch up with him. They
stopped just at the end of the hall.
Before them
was an immense wooden door covered with carvings and runes. Near the top was a
knocker in the shape of a dreadfully ugly demon’s head. Suddenly, it’s eyes
shot open, revealing two glowing red and orange eyes that rolled crazily around
for a moment before fixing on them with a meaning stare. “I am Mynos,
gate-keeper under the service of Master of the Watch. Who be you?”
“I am Sergeant Marlin, Master of the
Watch under the Mage Guildmaster Nevin Dov Sigmund. This youth is Master Jakob
Charles Sigmund the second, son of the Guildmaster. I have been order by Sir
Nevin to escort his son to his dorm room and see that he is comfortable.”
“Did you have to go and use my full
name?” Charlie grumbled, frowning. ‘I hate being called Jakob!’
Marlin ignored him and waited for a
reply.
Mynos gave them a quick look over
and then closed it’s eyes. “You may pass.” The door swung up with a deep groan.
Once again, Charlie could only gape
in amazement. The room before him was the most richly decorated and elegant
place he had ever seen. There was paneling that matched the ornate furniture on
all the walls. The floor had a deep, plush carpet cover by several oriental
rugs. And then there were the shelves upon shelves of books lining the room. He
slowly walked over to the desk and sat down in the deep red leather chair
behind it. “Is…is this my room?”
“It is.” Smartly, the sergeant walked up to
the desk. “You things have already been put away for you, Master Charles. If
you require anything, all you have to do is ask me, and I shall see to it that
your wishes are taken care of swiftly.”
“Alright then,” He picked up a pen
and a memo pad. “Can you give me the number for Saint Joan’s?”
Marlin seemed to blink. “I beg your
pardon, sir. What did you say?”
“Do you know the number for Saint
Joan’s? I want to call Artemis and tell him that I’m okay and see how he’s
doing.”
“I regret to inform you that I cannot grant that request.”
“Why?”
“Because students are not allowed to
use the phones in their dorm’s for private calls.”
“But how else are they going to tell
their parents that they’re alright?”
“Well, sir, in most cases, calls to
one’s relations are allowed. However,” His voice took on a nasty little snarl.
“All you have to do is walk down the hall to your father’s office, so I’m
afraid you won’t be using that phone any in the near future. Is there anything
else, Master Charles?”
“Geez, would you quit calling me
‘Master Charles’ already! Its just Charlie, okay?”
“Excuse me, sir, but since you are
the son of one of my superiors, I am required by guild law to address you as
such. And even if it weren’t required of me, I would still do so out of respect
for Sir Nevin. Now, is there anything else you would like to know, sir?”
He looked at the computer on his
desk. A sly grin crossed his lips. “Does this have access to the internet?”
“Yes, it does.” Marlin gave the boy
a stern look. “And I can guess what you’re planning, so don’t even try it. I
will be personally monitoring and screening any and all incoming and out going postage,
e-mails, and phone calls for this room.”
“Hey!” Charlie snapped angrily. “I
do have a right to my privacy, don’t you know!”
“Yes, well that may be, sir,” Marlin
hissed. “But I have been instructed by your father to ensure that you are kept
safe and secure by any means I see fit.” With a snap of his
heels, Marlin turned and headed toward the door. “Good day, Master
Charles.”
~*~*~*~
Artemis stretched out on the bed,
half-asleep, with his guitar resting on his stomach. There were papers scattered
across the desk and bed. He had been writing again, trying to kill time by
making a new song. So far, he had some lyrics and the first set of chords, but
still nothing close to a decent ending. ‘Maybe a quick nap will help.’ He
closed his eyes. A few minutes passed before Artemis had a nagging feeling that
someone was watching him. Slowly, he opened his eyes and lay there face to face
with a strange, gray-haired boy.
“Hi there!” The boy chirped, grinning. “You must be my new
roommate.” He plopped onto the bed beside him and shook his hand. “Ara. Ara
Krane. And you are?”
“Artemis.”
“Artemis…”
“Just
Artemis.”
“No last name?” Ara mused.
Suddenly, he grabbed the sheet that Artemis had written his lyrics on.
“Ooh…what’s this?”
“Hey! Give that back!”
“Give what back?” Came the
not-so-innocent reply.
“My lyrics!”
“Oh, so you’re one of those
singer/songwriter geeks, aren’t you?”
“Just give me my paper back!” He
growled, sitting up.
“Wait a second! I wanna read ‘em!”
Ara barely glanced at the sheet before loudly proclaiming them, “GAY!” He jump
up and held the paper by a corner in disgust. “You need to learn how to write,
‘cause this song sucks monkey balls! I’m just gonna have to put it out of its
misery.” At that, the lower edge began to smolder and burn.
“STOP!!!!” Artemis leapt for the
paper, but before he could grab it, Ara had vanished. He ended up crashing into
the floor.
Now Ara was standing at the door.
“God! I was just playing!” He tossed the paper carelessly on the floor.
“Ara quit annoying the new guy!”
There was a small girl with shaggy, short pink hair standing just behind him
now. She looked like she had just tried out for a job as an extra in a Brittney
Spears video.
“Awah damn!” Ara groaned. “It’s
Pinky the pest!”
“Oh look whose talking, you poser!”
She snapped, tugging both of the long, bright red strands in the front of Ara’s
hair. She then picked up the paper and leaned over to help Artemis up. “I’m
Kamiko Aino, but everyone just calls me Lucky.”
“Uh…hi, I’m…”
She cut him off mid sentence. “I
know. You’re Artemis.”
“Good god! Not another mind reader!”
Artemis frowned.
Lucky giggled. “I’m not a mind
reader. I’m just clairvoyant.”
Ara snorted, then sneered at her.
“Funny, I thought you were just a bitch!”
“Shut up, baka!” She turned back to
Artemis. “So, what are you, Arty?”
He gave her a funny look. “Isn’t it
pretty obvious that I’m a guy.”
“Anta no kawaii!” She said with
another giggle. “I was asking you what sort of talents you have!”
“Talents? Well, I can read other
people’s minds and sort of move stuff.”
“Oh, so you’re a tweaker with
telepathy.”
“A what?!”
“A tweaker, stupid!” Ara grinned
nastily. “That’s a person who can move crap with just a thought. Geez, you are
such a retard!”
“I warning you Ara…One more smart
ass comment and I’ll zap you!”
“Oh, I’m scared now!” He shivered in
mock fright. “BAHAHAHAHAHA! You couldn’t even light up a Christmas tree bulb!”
“Oh
yeah?” Lucky reached into her pocket and pulled out a nine-volt battery. “Just
keep it up, BIC-boy!”
“Why you little…”
Artemis stepped in between them.
“Could you two please just stop this crap? It’s childish!”
“Excuse me?!” Ara glared daggers at
him. “Do you have any idea how insulting it is to call someone of my ability a
BIC?”
“And just what is your ability?”
He stuck his chest out and beamed
proudly. “I’m a pyrophillic!”
“Huh?”
“That’s just a nice way of saying
‘fire bug’!” Lucky said, sticking her tongue out at Ara.
“You know something, you’re a real
bitch Lucky.”
“At least I’m not an arsonist like
you!”
“Oh, one or two little accidents and
you get labeled an arsonist!”
“One or two little accidents my ass!
You burned down every place you ever lived in!”
“Shut the fuck up, Bitchzilla!”
“Redneck trash!”
“Slut!”
“Inbred dick!”
“Skank whore!”
“ENOUGH!” Artemis shouted. “If you
two are going to keep this up, then leave!”
“Leave? Why the hell should I leave?
I’m your roommate, dammit! If anyone needs to leave, it lil’ Miss cheap slut!”
“You shouldn’t call me a slut! After
all, wasn’t it you who slept with the basketball team, those Goth freaks, the
Forensics club, and the entire cheerleading squad?”
“Cheerleaders?” Ara made a face. “I wouldn’t want to
be caught dead with those stuck up skanks! I do have standards.”
“Yeah sure, standards. Whatever.” She gave Artemis a
sympathetic look. ‘Keep an eye on Ara. He’ll probably try something while
you’re sleeping.’
“WHAT?! I’d never do that, especially to my
good buddy here.” Ara grinned as he wrapped his arm around Arty’s shoulders.
“Ara, you are such a loser.” She smiled at Artemis
and gave him a kiss. “Ja-na, Arty-kun!” Lucky skipped out the door and down
hall.
“Well, now that Bitchzilla is gone, maybe we can get
back to our discussion.”
Artemis shrugged his arm off and plopped back onto
the bed. “Can you just leave me alone? I’m too tired to deal with anymore of
this crap!”
“Oh come on! I was just joking with you earlier.”
“Listen, this has been a really bad day for me so
far, so could you be quiet?”
Ara sniffled. “And we were bonding so well too…
Ooooooh! How can you be so insensitive?!”
“Because I’m a bastard.”
“But you haven’t even told me where you from or who
you’re folks are!”
“Neither have you. In fact, all you’ve told me so
far was your name.”
“Well, I don’t like to talk ‘bout my old man,
because he ditch my mom and us when we were five.”
“You have a twin sister?”
“HEY! Don’t be pulling crap like that with me, pal!”
Ara snarled.
“Sorry. I didn’t think you’d mind.”
“Well I do.” He sighed. “The next time you wanna poke
around in my head, ask first, okay?”
“`kay.”
“Guess you know that I’m from the
city, huh?”
“Yes. And about all your police
records…”
“Look, you’d be like me too if you
ended up as a ward of the state. Almost my whole life’s been spent getting ship
off to one shitty foster family after another.”
“What happen to your mother?”
“The last I heard of my mom, they
had sent her to some loony bin in Maine.”
“And your sister?”
“God only knows.” He sighed sadly.
“So, what’s your story?”
“I don’t remember anything about my
family.”
“Say what?”
“I was in an accident when I was
eight. My parents had been killed and when I woke up in the hospital, I had
amnesia.”
“Did they send you to a home?”
“No. The man who found me took me in
and sort of adopted me.”
“And just who is this Good
Samaritan? Some sappy yuppie?”
“His name is Nevin Sigmund. But I
just called him ‘Uncle Nev.’”
“Sigmund? As in N.D. Sigmund, the
super-rich old fart who’s supposed to be in charge of the Mage Guild?”
“Yes, that’s Nev.”
Suddenly, Ara fell back onto the bed
laughing his head off. “BULLSHIT! You must be lying out your ass, ‘cause there
is no way on God’s green earth that’s true!”
“And why the hell not?”
“The guy’s loaded! What the hell
would he want with another kid running around? Unless that rumor about him
being a child molester is true…”
“Whoever told you that is full of
it! Uncle Nev would never do something like that to anyone, especial a child!”
“Okay, then give me one damn good
reason why his son’s such a little girlie boy.”
“What?”
“Well, you did say that you lived
with them.” Ara smirked. “So tell me why that little prick is like that.”
“Leave Charlie out of this.”
“Oh, what’s the matter? You got a
thing for him, hmmm?” His smirk widens. “I could have guessed you’d be that
way. Obviously you must have figured out how I swing, since Bitchzilla was all
to happy to say it.”
“We’re just very good friends.
That’s all.”
“Bullshit! He must have been hitting
on you every time Uncle Nev had his back turned. I’d don’t really blame him,
though. You’re really good-looking.”
He sat there silent, looking at the
floor. Artemis thought back to that morning, remember what Charlie had said. “All
the things we’ll learn together…” He felt flushed.
“I knew it!” Ara jumped up in glee. “You and the little prep were
fooling around behind his dad’s back!”
“WHOA! Wait a minute…that’s not
true! We’re just…just…” He leapt to his feet, gesturing furiously.
“Oh, I get it.” There was an impish
glint in his eyes. “He paid you, didn’t he?”
“WHAT!”
“You don’t have to play dumb with
me, Arty. I would have done the same thing if I were you.” He laughed nastily.
“Guess he won’t have to pay for it any more now that he’s at the Academy.”
“Shut your god damn mouth.”
The smile vanished form Ara’s face.
“What did you say?”
“I said, shut your god damn mouth.”
He stared at Artemis. “You should
know better than to stand here and take up for that little prick! He probably
doesn’t give a rat ass about you.”
“You’re wrong!”
“Is that so?” Ara snarled. “All
preps want is someone to screw for a night or so then be able to conveniently
disappear.”
“Charlie’s isn’t like that!”
“Hello? Earth to retard boy! This
guy’s a sleazy little mother-…” He stops mid-sentence, breathing laboriously. “Hey,
cut it out! I…I…can’t breathe.” Ara started coughing and gasping violently and
fell to the floor. “Please…” he sputtered. “Stop! {Gasp} You’re…going
to…kill me!” He started clawing and pounding on Artemis’ chest. “Stop! Stop!
PLEASE STOP!!!!”
“Uh…” Artemis stumbled backwards and
sat at the end of the bed, dazed. He looked down at the sprawled, wheezing boy.
“What the hell happened?”
“You…you tried to strangle me!”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“You-you didn’t realize what you
were doing?” He sat up, staring at him nervously. “Tell me: Has anyone ever
tried to train you?”
“I…I honestly don’t know. Maybe when
I was little, but that was before the accident…”
“That means…” Ara scrambled to his
feet. “I’m really sorry about all the crap I said to you a minute ago. I won’t
ever, ever, ever talk trash about Charlie again.”
“Umm…alright…” He watched him edge
over to the bed on the other side of the room and sit stiffly down.
For the rest of the evening, Ara
kept a respectable distance away form Artemis.
~*~*~*~