a few chapters from my epic PROJECT 8-13 and its sequel RECLAIMATION

these are a few chapters from my PROJECT 8-13 series, and its sequal series Reclaimation. read, enjoy, and comment. n.n

Note: These are the original rough drafts that have appeared on my website ( www.melancholia-dragonflies.net ), and will be edited for both content, copyright, and quality reasons when i publish them in my books.

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PROJECT 8-13

(from book 2)

12 April 2003
Revisions - 7 August 2006

Chapter One: Tem

I lay still, my eyes closed to the dark room. I have red hair as rich and as dark a red as the blood coursing through my mortal veins. My eyes are average size and round, a little too round it seems. I have a nose that appears average for that of a Britt; my lips full and a natural crimson color. At first glance one might think me an American, or possibly a Frenchman; I am in all actuality a Greek.
I am a well off man. Nice arms, slender legs, and a trim waist. Always dressed in fine silks, sleek leather, sheer satins, and the softest of velvets. My home is large and grand on the shore of a small semi-secluded island off the southern coast of California. My only company are those who have been permitted to come to my island, or my only roommate. His room is two doors down from my own.
I am, like stated before, a man of means. My life is calm and refined. I am an artist. At one time I had been a pilot in a long forgotten war, and even later a mercenary. Those days are gone and over.
My room is, like the rest of my home, luxurious. The carpet soft and black shag. The curtains over the window just left of the hall door are a somber black; the same may be said of the set draped over the glass doors to my balcony.
The bed in which I lay is low to the floor. The matresses and pillows made from the softest of goose down. My sheets, sheer silk, are a lovely midnight blue. The comfortor a deep violet of crushed baby velvet. This bed for a king I sleep in alone most nights. But for this day at least, there is another body in it.
The chests of clothes and nightstands and tables are all made of highly polished mahogony wood. Framed pictures here and there of my old friend Christina from our days at the Acadamy together, my surrogate sister Mirei with her son Damien... a smaller picture in the corner of her deceased husband Tempest. In silver frames hanging from the wall were the smiling faces of Cross, Vash, and Joe, all three of which are like family to me. A small snapshot of myself and my former fiance lay on the writing desk, face down.
And here I lay in my room, in my bed. Another warm body asleep on the pillow beside me, his arms wrapped around me as if I were his. For this one time of many, I was. But my mind lingered on other things. The one beside me stirred, his head lay against my chest.
"Tem..." he mumbled as I brought my hand up to stroke his long blue hair. He is in all respects my superiror. He is stronger, as is he more spiteful. He also carries with him much anger, which is why I bed him from time to time. In my opinion, casual sex is always more enjoyable when there's the posibilty of a partner losing it before he's through. I eased his head from my chest and his arms from around me. He stirred again, his deep black orbs following me as I turned on my side.
"Tem, what time is it?" he asked with a yawn. I propped my head on my arm, looking down at him with a gentle smile. Slowly I leaned in and pressed my crimson lips to his cheek. "Late," was my soft reply. I slipped my free hand in the place between his arm and his body, my fingers stroking his side slowly.
"Late... better not be too late to have another go," he said with a cocky grin. He pushed himself closer to me, reaching between my legs under the sheets. The action quickened me, though I knew I must resist him.
I pinched his arm with a smirk. "Cross will be home soon. You can't let him see you like this with me." Pulling my hand back, I rolled to my other side and sat up, my back to him. Tosing the silk sheets aside, I stood. "Besides, Mirei and Alexia will be here soon as well. I don't think two naked men is something Immotosan would like her daughter to see."
I sensed him at the edge of the bed behind me before I felt his large, strong hands clasp onto my slim hips and pull me backward into his lap. "So... we still have another five minutes." He pressed his face against my lower back. I could feel the lines of his young face as he smiled, as he closed those menacing black orbs. I swooned under his spell again, like I always do when he has me in his arms.
"I have to get dressed, and you have to make yourself presentable if you want to try and win Mirei over," I whispered softly, pulling out of his grasp. I slowly walked to the chest of drawers beneath the window and bent low, knowing full well what was in the other's sights, to open the bottommost drawer. I snatched up a fine shirt of black lace and peered at him from between my knees. "Chop chop old chap, no need to sit around all night and be lazy."
He reluctantly rose from my bed and gathered up his discarded clothing. As I slipped my shirt over my head, he pulled on his baggy blue jeans. I had turned to open my closet when he had come up behind me slowly, putting his arms around my waist, the firm crotch of his jeans rubbing against my bare buttocks. I sighed, the feeling of his closeness was something I always enjoyed... such a powerful man, who most of the time was very crude and harsh tongued towards me, also had to him a slightly soft side which was a rare sight to behold. Shame none but me ever witnessed it.
He put his chin on my shoulder as we looked together in my closet at my varried wardrobe of both mens and womens clothing. "I need a woman," he said finally. "I want Mirei.... I want to have kids with Mirei..."
"She already has kids love," I said with a roll of my eyes.
"Don't point out the obvious," he replied almost glumly.
I shook my head with a smile, pressing my behind into him as I leaned into the closet and pulled a pair of black jeans from a hanger. "And what do you expect me to do about it? I'm not Cupid you know."
He smiled and kissed my cheek before letting me go. "But I need your help. You're like a big brother to her man, she looks up to you. Besides, who else can I ask to get me hooked up with her?"
I turned around and went to another dresser. If there was one thing about me... I have one for almost everything. My closet had only my pants and boots and skirts, whereas a dresser for my undergarments sat beneath a painting I had done of my motherland, Greece, though of the ancient times. And still two more for my shirts. But this one, this was where I kept my things like socks and underwear and such. From the top drawer I pulled out a pair of hunter green satin boxers and slid them on, then the jeans. Glancing in a mirror, I picked up a comb and ran it through my hair.
"Okay.... I'll help you out..." He started to open his mouth to speak as I looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was again near the bed, straightening the sheets and the pillows, making it appear as though our secret acts had not taken place between those silk sheets. "On one condition."
I waited for him to ask the inevitable 'what?' but it never came. Nevertheless, I pressed this point as if I were explaining something important to a small child. "Your brother wants to take me to dinner. I want to go."
He gave me a cold stare, which I felt on my back as well as saw through the mirror. "Why him? I'm not enough for you anymore, is that it?"
I set down my comb and turned around, giving him a playful laugh as he took that stance I usually saw when he was about ready to beat me, which was quite often. "You go and sleep with as many women as you want. I want to be able to do the same with other men. You made it plain to me that you wanted this completely secret, and I've honored that... but...." I took a deep breath, waiting for the rage to explode as it always does... the consequences so fresh in my mind as though he had told them to me seconds ago, though it had been nearly a year since he spoke those harsh words.
He put a hand on his hip, a rather feminine gesture which only I always seemed picked up on. "But what? This isn't enough is it? I'm too much man for you?" As if to further his point, he thrust his pelvis out with a dark laugh.
"Damn it listen to me." My voice was cold, and I knew it, I did not like where this was going... "You and I, we're just a fling. As soon as you get what you really want, I'll be tossed to the side again. I... I just want to at least have someone to take my mind off some baka who runs to me when he can't get any god damned pussy!" My voice had risen in anger as I glowered at him now. I was so very glad it was still just us two in the house; for surely if there had been any other present, they would have to come between us before it came to blows. "I want... I want someone I can hold in my arms and not be ashamed of receiving my affections in public! And Vash doesn't mind, or care for that matter!"
He stood there, his eyes narrowed as he watched me, his demeanor seeming to be like that of a fierce predator laying in wait. Oh how many times we have played this game of cat and mouse. Me, the talker and he the brutal force to quiet my ranting shouts. Yet, despite how things were turning for the worse, I continued on.
"I love you, surely you must know that! If I can't have you, I'll settle for someone else... And it's this love that tears me apart inside don't you see?...No, you can't can you! You love her and only her, you never will really love me!" I shook with this anger, this seething sudden rage for him. I could not bear to look at him. "I'm just another hole to you!"
"But I do love you." His words were calm although he kept that same stance and posture. It drove me wild with fury as I looked upon him this way.
"I gave up my entire life for you! You tell me such as how things between us would change, and how we would drift apart like all the others had did when Tempest died, that no matter how hard we try, our friendship would crumble beneath us..." In my anger, I had not taken chance to look into my mirror, though I did so now. How horrid I looked standing there, my usually joyous face twisted and dark in my bitter mind, my eyes red from both hate and tears of love for this man, a love that was slowly killing me inside.
It was then he changed and came at me with such force that I thought surely he meant to crash his fist into my jaw. But no, the pain and blood spittle never came. I was quickly enfolded in those arms as he looked deeply into my puffy eyes. "It was a mistake..." I mumbled. "It's just been so long since I've asked for anything for myself that I thought.... you're right... I shouldn't have said anything." I took in a deep breath, relaxing in his arms as he stood there, essentialy holding me up on my feet. Had he let me go I would have fallen to the carpet in tears of bitter agony.
When next he spoke, it was cold and unchanging. "Fine. Go then. I don't care."
He pulled over a chair for me to sit in as he picked up his white tanktop from the floor. Quickly he slipped it over his head and left me in my room. I watched him go in silence. It was not until five minutes later when I heard the sounds of children and that sweet voice of my beloved Imootosan wafting through the house. It was then I knew Cross would be home within the half hour.
A wave of relief settled over me. I again combed my hair...
Why... is he the only one that can make me submit?...
---
Oh how the night went on! It was truly glorious... the four of us together like old times. Mirei had helped me send Alexia, as well as my son Astarte, to bed. My beloved Imootosan carried on and on about how the two of them had run away from each other declaring they both had 'cooties'. It was so cute...
Of course, when the four of us are gathered together like this, there is excessive drinking and loosening of the tongue. Every so often someone would drop by, asking this or that and sharing a drink with us in my livingroom, but all in all it was a private occasion.
Eventually we had all bid one another good night as Mirei left, thanking me for letting Alexia stay the night. I was more than happy to oblige. Cross had stumbled into his room and literally crashed onto his bed. All was quiet again in my large beach-front home.
Only Joe and myself remained awake, and together we sat outside on the deck, drinking away the last few bottles of beer and vodka. "You know..... if I drink enough of this then..."
"No," he said coldly, looking out to the shoreline. I could feel my heart sink in my chest as I looked at him.
My crimson lips came together to form a thin line. "Alright then..." I whispered before putting my bottle to my lips, parting them just a little to take one final swig. "I need my rest anyway..."
He only gave me a nod and a grunt in reply as he drowned my words out with the last of the vodka. He held the bottle at the neck tightly as he rose, the chair scraping against the wodden planks that made up the floor of the deck. The look of him now was quite disheartening to me, as it always was. To be this close to such a man, and yet not to touch him was for me a hellish temptation! With a deep sigh, I rose to show him out, as a good host must do.
I took the bottle when he had gotten to the sliding door. "I can show myself out," he mumbled as he passed through. He stopped at the front door a moment as I had just entered into the hall, opening the first door on my right to check in on Alexia.
"Tem?"
I turned around with a forced, yet tired smile. "Yeah?"
"I'm gonna take off for a few days, so don't go looking for me." Without another word, he walked out and shut the door behind him. After I had checked in on my son, I heard the roar of his car speeding off down the road to the ferry. My feverent mind was alight with ideas now, though most were born of the strong longing in felt in my soul for someone, anyone, who would share my bed with me tonight.
Silently I went down to my studio in the basement and set to work at my tripod. A large canvas tile, one of four that were to form a large mural down at the ferry station. They depicted the island as seen from above.
With a fine tipped brush, I leaned close into the light cast down by the bright lamp attatched to the ceiling above me. Pulling it down closer with one hand, my other touched the brush to the canvas, adding minor details to the four small, fragile, beings on the back deck of a house at the beach.
 

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(from book 3)

12 June 2003 

Chapter Three: Khayman

I was woken up at sunset, Vash tossing one of my old outfits to me, like I wore before when I dressed to impress. I yawned and changed right in front of him, not really caring that he was there in the room. Taking off my much overworn t-shirt, I tossed it to the bed, followed by my blood crusted jeans.

I'd been tossed a pair of my tight leather pants and after digging through my bag, found not a single pair of bikini briefs that I could wear with them. So, el commando I go. I shimmied into my dark blue silk shirt without having to undo a single button. Though, I unfastened the top two to show off my slender neck. It felt like an eternity since I'd worn tings so provocative.

Joe smiled when he passed by tossing me a pair of socks. "Boots please. You wear those damned sneakers one more day and they'll be walking by themselves," he said with a laugh as he ran a brush through his hair.

I put on the socks, black and perfect, and put on the only pair of my boots they'd bothered to pack for me. The ones with the large chrome buckles down one side of each, four buckles for the four straps I pulled tight, then dropped the bottoms of my pants over them, completing the look wth my violet tinged shades.

Vash clapped as I started to bow mockingly. "From beast to beauty," I said in a fake brittish voice with a laugh, and I felt it to be genuine.

I went out to the car and waited for them. Vash wore black leather pants that came down over his boots (they had minor cleats i remember, but nothing major) and his red trenchcoat. Oh, and his shirt was of all things, a white dress shirt. And of course, his trademark black gloves that came up to his freakin elbows.

And Joe... well... he was just Joe as usual. T-shirt, though thankfully not rag-tag, black trenchcoat, nothing glamorous about it. Boots, though more made for hiking than for army marching like mine; and of course, his baggy jeans, this time real black instead of that off washing machine fade black.

I didnt know where the fuck they were taking me until I got there. The sign said "The Sacred Yew" and a slightly steady stream of kids between the ages of 13 and 25 were heading in the door. And they were all sorts; the punks with their multi-colored hair do's, the deathers in their black with obvious black dye-job and black eyeliner, the usual preps or "trendies" and of course the hippie children that must have weird names such as "Teaspoon" and "Treefrog."

I got out and followed my two friends to the line, and we were inside in no time. I looked around, finding the stage but no one was there. Joe took me by the arm and had to scream in my ear for me to hear him. "I got us here early so you wouldn't miss anything!"

I nodded and pushed through the crowd until I eventually came out at the bar. Tending was some really tall guy, had to be taller than Joe easily (and Joe's only two inches taller than myself.) His scraggly hair was blonde, his face slightly gaunt. I asked him for the hardest thing he had, and he set a bottle of some beer brand I've never heard of before in front of me.

I took a hessitent sip of it before turning to see Vash sitting next to me. God, the noise in here was too much... though then a hush fell over the mass of flesh and sweat. Glancing to the stage, only because that's where everyone else was looking, I caught sight of the band.

Lost Souls? I recalled. When I thought about it I couldn't bring to mind anything I'd heard of them, if annything at all. There were two of them. The singer a decent looking blonde, his eyes a light color that from here I couldn't quite make out. The other though, his dark hair and slightly built frame reminded me some of Joe before he became completely self-absorbed (if such a time existed that is.) It hit me when the music started and the singer began that I had heard them before... I was listening to one of their tapes the first time I had ever kissed...

I put two fingers to my lips, wondering if Joe was thinking what I was. I looked around for him, then elbowed Vash to ask if he could see him. He shook his head before I felt a tug on my arm. When I turned there was some girl trying to pull me out into the shifting mass of bodies. I set down my beer and went with. Everything was fine until she tried kissing me in mid dance. I turned my head, making it appear like I was just moving with the music and not purposly dodging her lips. And she tried a second time, then a third before finally I relented and let her.

For the record, it made me sick to my stomach. Had she never heard of brushing her teeth? I glanced at the stage, locking eyes with the singer only once, but it felt like eternity before I forced myself to look away.

It wasn't until halfway through the next song when I was able to break away and get back to the bar where I found Joe drinking from my bottle. "Having fun?" he asked with a grin.

"Damned women. Taste worse than you do," I took the bottle from him and drank down the last few sips. I looked to the bartender and held up two fingers. He set two more bottles down on the counter. I sat down on the stool next to Vash, and then Joe next to me. And that's where the three of us stayed for the next few hours. Sitting, drinking, and talking every so often. Joe once tried to grab some beer nuts, and offered me some, but I said no.

Woo hoo. The hightlight of the night.... beer nuts. Although, it was a really good show. Out of the corner if my eye, I could see joe watching me, then looking at some girls, then me again.

I'd ordered my 6th beer when the band left the stage, calling it a night. I knew then the place would start to clear out, and fast. Vash was passed out, a bottle of beer 1/3 full by his head. Joe, not quite all that drunk yet but drunk enough to give that goofy grin of 'I've had 10 beers and I feel damn good.'

I felt tipsy enough to know I'd better not finish the bottle I had or I'd end up like Vash, or worse. "Wanna head home?" Joe asked. "Not yet. Not till the place closes." I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

---

I woke up only when the light came in on my face from the window. The bed had fresh sheets, wow. When the hell did that happen? I rolled over, wanting to bury my face into my pillow and go back to sleep for a few more hours.....days. I mumbled something and curled up next to what I thought was a pillow until a hand came down to push my hair out of my face.

"Awake yet?" he asked sleepily.

"Oh fuck," I grumbled, thinking something must have happened while I was drunk considering there was another guy in my bed. But slowly I started to piece together various factors such as... my shirt still had buttons and I still had my shirt, and my ass hurt only becuase my pants were offcenter and they were the kind that tend to cut off circulation when that happens.

"Dude, you went out like a light last night. I felt like I was lugging a dead body home."

I groaned and looked up at him, still wanting to go back to sleep. "Why you in my bed?"

He laughed and pinched my cheek. I hate it when he does that... it's..... just wrong. Reminds me of what old people do to small children who end up growing up and killing the next old person who grabs their cheeks. "There's only two beds, the floor might have god knows what in it, and if I shared a bed with Vash then that would just be too weird."

I poked him and put my head back down. "Sleep." I grumbled before he got up, pulling me with him. "No sleep," he said, pushing me out of the room and towards the bathroom. "Wake up and eat, then walk around and explore."

He shut the door when I tried to protest. I closed my mouth and went into the bathroom. For a rancid trailer, the bathroom was actually pretty sanitary. Fresh roll of toilet paper sitting on the counter next to the toilet, a new shower curtain hanging from new rings on the bar. Soap in a new soap dish, and shampoo and conditioner sitting on a ledge kinda in the wall of the shower/tub.

Three toothbrushes were in a plastic cup at the sink, a tube of toothpaste beside them and another cup, orange-red colored, for i supposed rinsing out your mouth. There were even three different razors in a basket near the plug in the wall. One of which was already plugged in.

"Boy wasn't someone thoughtful," I mumbled as I picked up my toothbrush. I brushed my teeth while taking a long needed piss. Joe came in on me thnkfully after I'd already fastened my pants back, though had he been just a second sooner, he might have got a free 2 second peep show. I looked in the mirror and spat out that mess of toothpastey goo and then rinsed out my mouth.

Before walking out, I did manage to shave my three days worth of stubble. "Bah," I mumbled when I looked at myself in the mirror. Joe kicked me out of the bathroom, so I went to go change. Looking through my bag, I found mostly my really nice clothes, hell, that's mostly what I owned!

I picked up a dark green lace shirt and some black jeans with blue boxers that had small Kanji all over them. Then... my boots because I found my sneakers had been tied to a tree outside the window and I honestly didn't feel like falling out of a tree just for a pair of dumb shoes.

Joe grabbed my guitar out of the closet before ushering me to the car. He locked the front door, with the sleeping Vash inside. I'd started to open the passenger door when he unlocked the trunk.

"Don't get in," he said, fishing around for something. Soon, in the time it takes for the sound of "pop, poof, choom" to go through the air... the much battered motorcycle was out again. He closed the trunk and tied my guitar to the body of the bike, then got on.

"What are you waiting for dipshit?" he asked grinning. I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair, then stradled the reat behind him, curving my arms loosly around his waist. "Where to?"

"Eat and explore a while before we come back?"

"Sounds fine to me," I said as he started up the poor old motorcycle. I have found that when it comes to cars, Joe is the perfect guru, but when it comes to anything with less than four wheels... he drives like an old lady on smack.

We kicked up the dirt of our rented driveway before tearing down Violin Road. It didn't take long (even with Joe's poor bike handling) for us to reach town. We passed by one of Missing Mile's two police cruisers, and all they did was smile and wave and keep drinking their coffee. Mm.... coffee sounded real good to me right now.

I assumed he'd take me to the diner where we dropped off Isis the day before, but no, he took me to one of the few fast food joints this miserable town had. Something called "Happy Palace" I think. All I had was a cup of hot coffee and a few hashbrowns. Joe had three sausage and egg biscuits with a large cup of coffee and about 1- hashbrowns.

"Hungry?" I said, raising a brow. He only snorted and dug into his food even more. "No need to eat like a pig. Jesus Christ look at you, you've got mustard on your chin."

He blinked at me a few times before laughing and wiping his face with a napkin. "Yeah yeah. Hey, wanna head down to that Whirly whatta ya call it place after here? I saw ya lookin at it when we came into town."

I smiled. "Sure man, but I'm driving."

"After what you did to the thing the last time I let you use it?!"

I sighed and drank up the last of my coffee. "It's not like this town is full of people just dying to take potshots at me because I'm doing something illegal. C'mon.... you blow at moving the think anyway and you know it."

He narrowed those black eyes at me and took a bite of his last hashbrown. "Fine," he said finally, wiping his mouth and hands with enough napkins he could have started a bonfire right there at the table and still have enough left over to wipe his ass with.

Outside, I clambed on and revved it up. "Get on, and hold tight. This bitch moves fast as hell." I kicked the stand up out of the way when he got on, pressing close and holding my waist tight. "Okay, leave me enough air to breathe with man," I said laughing. He eased his grip on me and I shot out of the parking lot, kicking up bits of gravel as I skid into a turn.

For a minute I thought his dumb self was going to fall off, but he was only reaching up to brush his hair out of his face. It didn't take us but ten minutes to get across town to The Whirling Disc where I parked the bike at the curb just outside the door.

"Go on in, I'll be there in a sec," I said, taking out my cell. He went in without me as I pressed a button, then waited as the line rang.

"Hello?" the other end mumbled. I knew it was late where they were, either that or just really really early in the morning, so of course I ended up waking probably all of them up.

"Imootosan, it's just me. How's everything there?"

"Oh Oniisan! It's great, really. Astarte lost a tooth when he and Alexia were skating around on the drive way. I took him to the dentist and everything's fine."

"Good because... the way things are going here, we'll be gone longer than we thought. I dunno how long, but expect to be staying a month or so." There was much silence on the other line, then finally she said something. "Okay...but you owe me big for this one Oniisan... really really big."

"Keeping score now are we?" I asked with a laugh. "Are the kids up? If they're not, then let them sleep and I'll call again later."

"No, they're up. Up before the ass crack of dawn. I don't know how kids can do that. Don't they ever sleep? Little monsters."

I chuckled. "Put the lil demon on the phone would ya." I waited until I heard that ever cheerful call of "Daddy!"

"Hey there big guy, are you behaving yourself for auntie Mirei?"

"Yep."

"Okay," I looked up and Joe was waving for me to come inside. "I just called to see how you were doing, making sure you stayed out of trouble and all..."

We talked a few more minutes until he said Mirei was making him go pick up his room. I told him I loved him and missed him. He said the same, then I went inside, tucking my phone into my pocket.

"Took you long enough," Joe snapped.

I glared at him, well aware of the eyes from behind the counter peering at us. "What? I just needed to see if everything was okay at the house. You know how that lil devil gets when I'm not around to make him behave."

"Dude, this is a vacation, time away from all that. Sheesh, don't you ever take a day off?" He started browsing through a shelf of cds. I didn't bother to comment, just started looking around myself.

Everything looked so... whats the word... psychadelic? Yeah, that was it. Offhandedly I wondered if the person who ran the place knew the 60s were over just past 40 years ago. I picked up a shirt with a picture of Bob Marley on it and draped it over my arm.

"You guy's carry anything besides country and folk music?" I heard Joe ask the man behind the counter. "Other side of the rack there's about three copies of AC/DCs first album, a few foreign cds, and Ja Rule with Lil Kim."

I started sifting through the section of the store where posters were scattered. That tailer needed a little sprucing up, even if we were just going to be there a week or two, or however long we were going to stay... Joe said it was up to me how long. I picked a few posters out from the bunch, amazinglt I managed to find some at all that didn't have a pot leaf on it... though I did get one with a smoking turtle on it for Vash to sit and stare at for hours lauging his ass off like I knew he would.

"Hey bro, check this out, look what I found!" He held up a cd with an all to familiar cover... the pitcure of a tombstone with multicolored letters, handwritten crayon on each copy, not a single one alike.

"You like that one?" asked the clerk. It was just right then I saw he was the dark haired one from the band last night. He sure did look diferent without the smoke in the air and beer on everyone's breath. "Shoot, I'll give it to ya if you want it. My treat."

Joe shrugged and handed me the cd, which I stared at, waiting for him to finish digging through a bin of stuff. "You're the guys who just moved in up on Violin Road right?"

I turned to him and set the suff on the counter. "Yeah, that easy to tell huh?"

"Yeah. Isis came over earlier with one of her gals from work. They just dropped by for a pinch of weed before they went on shift. She talked all about your friend there."

I raised a brow and cocked me head towards Joe. The guy nodded. "Yeah, him. Eh... Genki's his name, right?"

"Yeah." Joe set a small stack of cds with the pile of stuff I'd set down. I sighed and shook my head. "What?" he asked, looking at me with a grin. "I can't buy a single cd without you aproving of it first? What are you, my mother?" he laughed.

"You can only wish," I mumbled as the clerk rang up our things. I slapped down my credit card, one of three, and grabbed the bag. Swiping my card off the counter, I went out the door and tied the bag securly to the back end of the bike.

Joe came out a few minutes later and swung around behind me. "Where to next?" I asked him dully. "Steve said we should head out to highway 42, there's a turn off out there where some pals of his hang out."

"And..."

"Why do you have to ask so many god damn questions Tem. Shit, just loosen up will you." He pressed close as I revved up the engine again. What I wouldn't give to just knock him off the back and make a run for it out of here, or at least back to the trailer and back to sleep.

---

We pulled up into the long driveway and looked up at the house. The old porch looked like someone had never finished painting it. Above the door painted in blue and red, a hex design I'd seen once when I was younger, during my five months in my own hellish world. "This the place?" I asked when Joe was halfway up to the door.

"Yeah, this is it I think."

From beyond that door and those bare windows, I heard the sounds of partying; no doubt beer and senseless chatter galor. The wail of a guitar that was no doubt the work of Hendrix; the one true god of the instrument I so adored. "What are you waiting for idiot You comin or not?" Joe called, bringing me back to my senses. "Yeah." I said, hefting myself off the bike and joining him on the porch.

He knocked, and the door opened; a thick cloud of pot smoke slammed full force into my face; so strong and overpowering I thought I'd fall over. The man at the door wore a huge grin, unkempt hair pulled back from his face by a tye-dye bandana. His shirtsleeves were torn, or maybe it was made that way; the knees of his jeans frayed. His boots were mere sneakers, though looked to be rather old and worn.

"Who're you?" he asked, stealing a toke from his joint.

"The guy at the record store..." I began.

"Oh! Friends of Steve! Come on in man!" He stepped aside and Joe just went right on in ahead of me. I followed him more or less, looking around with the soul of Hendrix in the air, blasting itself into the space between my ears as if an anthem for the born too late hippies.

Apparently Joe wasted no time in getting a few beers and finding an empty place to sit. "C'mon man, sit down and chill out for once," he said, taking a big swig from the longnecked bottle.

I sat next to him and turned away the joint passed to me. The brute pushed a bottle into my hand, it was already opened, the cap tossed onto the floor with the rest of the day's mess.

"No, I'm tellin ya he didn't! Kinsey just keeps hirin' people then they drop outta sight! If I were him I'd just stop and do the work myself!" some girl, a brunette (though I could swear I saw blonde roots.)

I felt the weight of the couch shift as a dangerously thin girl planted herself next to me. "You don't talk much do you?" she asked, holding out a cigarette. I took it without question, taking a nice long drag. It had been ages since I'd last even picked up one of those cursed cancer sticks. Clove-ah, Lucky Strikes. Haven't had those since I was younger.

"What's your name?" she asked when I gave it back to her.

"Khayman," I replied, washing the taste from my mouth with a slosh from the bottle in my hand.

"Good name," she said, her voice bubbly. God, I wanted to wring her neck. "I'm Vicky, that's my boyfriend Terry there," she pointed to the one who'd opened the door. "That guy next to him is R.J. Next you your friend there is Ann and Lucile. The one by the cd player is Ghost."

"Nice names," I mumbled, waving away another joint offered to me. Joe elbowed me and offered me another. "You know I get sick from the stuff."

He shook his head. "Shotgun?"

."No," I said, giving him such a heated stare I swear it could have melted even the strongest alloy ever made. "Fine fine," he mumbled and dove back into conversation with the ladies on the other side of him.

Again, that damn bubbly and cheery voice drove itself into my brain again. "How'd you meet Steve anyhow?"

"He works at that store. Told us to come over I guess."

"Oh. That must mean he won't be back till late," she said, her voice falling just a small pitch. I wanted to claw her voicebox out of her throat to make it stop. "Uh.. the bathroom?" I asked instead.

"Thataway. First door on the left."

I got up, handing Joe my beer. When I'd started off to the bathroom, I felt a hand smack my ass hard. I snapped my head back and glared at Vicky, who only gave me a sheepish smile with a wink. Taking a deep breath, I made my way to the bathroom, muttering (in latin of all things) the whole way.

Shutting the door I bent over the sink, turning on the hot water, spalshing my face with it a little. It was so good to be out of that mind rotting smoke for even this brief time. Staring into the mirrir, I pushed my sunglasses to rest atop my head.

"God damn... why couldn't he have picked a bigger city like New York or hell even Atlanta?" I shook my head and splashed a bit more of that steaming hot water on my face again, watching as beads of clear liquid rolled down off my cheeks and chin. I reached up and traced that almost invisible line down my nose and across my lips, that scar from when my own face had been ripped clear off, or at least half ot it anyway.

I longed to be back home, smelling that fresh ocean air and painting in my studio. I had to get some paints and canvases while I was here, or maybe later after we were on the road again; but I knew it had to be soon, else I'd slip father into my own hellish insanity.

I jumped a little when there was a knock on the door. "You okay in there Khayman?"

"Uh yeah, I'll be right out." I grabbed up what I supposed was a hand towel and wiped my face with it. Turning off the water, I opened the door, my glasses still burrowed into the crimson tufts of hair that made my bangs. "Sorry to've been so long. You know how it is," I said.

The young man smiled faintly through that veil of pale blonde. "Yeah," was all he said before he pushed past me. I left him, shutting the door behind me to give him a bit of privacy.

Joe handed me my bottle back as I resumed my place on the couch next to him.

"Hey man, tell me if this is any good," he said, passing a cd over to Terry. For a few seconds the cords of Hendrix were silenced and replaced by that softly spoken tone I knew so well; the English accent one could only posses if they'd been born and raised in England itself.

Joe dropped an arm over my shoulders when Vicky'd asked what the man on the stereo was saying. "Why don't Khayman shed some light on that for ya doll."

I turned to glare at him again, but found only a drunken smile and soft eyes I could drown in.

"Well?" that annoyingly bubbly voice chimed.

I sighed and lifted Joe's arm off. "He's saying how life sucks and he wants it all to bleed away like the blood in his veins," I muttered, taking a much too long swig from the bottle as the music, music I had poured out one rainy day in the basement of a cheap faux hawaiian hotel, began to blast off the speakers...

---------------------------------------------

(from book 4)

23 June 2003 

Chapter Two: When the Music Begins

[Tem]

"Is this really for me!" she exclaimed with that pearly white smile as she held up the pink crystal unicorn. "Look mommy! Look! Ain't it pretty, and it has a horn too!"

"Yes dear, I see it, now put it away before it's broken." Mirei shook her head with a sigh, then looked up at me. "And I suppose this cost you a bundle."

"Actually, yes, it did. One of a kind."

"It always is..." Joe mumbled beside me as he offered me a drag of his cigarette. "You still haven't given us our's."

I pointed to the counter. "Astarte, would you get those two small boxes on the kitchen counter and bring them here for me please."

He got up from where he was putting his plane together and got them; in one hand a royal blue and a rose pink box in the other. He handed them to me then scurried back to his plane. I gave them each a box and waited as they opened them.

"Oniisan..." Mirei said as she took the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger.

"Consider this early birthday presents for the both of you." I said as Joe raised a brow and took a silver chain from the blue box. He held it up with both hands, watching as a small pendant swung back and forth from it.

"And this is...what exactly?"

"I know you don't go for jewelry but I thought you might like it since it's cut in the shape of a dragon and all. I bought it off some guy at the shoot." I smiled as he slipped it on over his head, then picked up the pendant and stared at it. "There's black diamonds in the eyes; they kinda reminded me of your's when I looked close at it."

"Lemme see," Mirei said, reaching out for it, but he pulled it back. "Maybe later," he said.

---

I sat at the edge of the bed with an open book in my lap; Astarte lay curled up under his blankets staring over at me as he listened intently to the story I was reading. "Daddy, why can't I go downstairs?" he asked quietly.

I looked up from th book and sighed, reaching over and tucking the top edge of his blanket up under his chin. "Because there's a lot of stuff down there that very hyper little boys shouldn't mess around with."

"I'm not little. I'm this many." He held out his hands holding up 7 fingers.

"Yes yes, I know you are. But you're still not quite old enough to go down there. Remember what happened the last time?" I pushed his arms back under the blanket and tucked it under his chin again.

"Yes daddy..." he said, drawing out the yes like little children always do when they've heard the same thing over and over again.

"I'll tell you what. In a few days when it's just me and you here, I'll take you downstairs and show you some paintings I did of you and Lexi and Mirei and me okay."

"And Tammy-chan too?"

I patted his blanket covered chest with a smile. "And Tammy-chan too. Now shush up and I'll tell you what happened to Hansel and Grettle and that mean old witch in the candy house."

I read to him a bit more before closing the book and setting it on the table by his bed. Standing up, I kissed his forehead lightly then left, running my hand over the lightswitch on my way out.

I sighed, tossing my hair just a little. Even with the air on it was hot in the house. Perhaps it was because I had so much black furniture; black as I recall absorbs the most heat. I found Joe sitting in my room at the desk, sifting through papers and notebooks or whatever.

I shut the door and went to him, draping my arms over his shoulders from behind. "What in sam hell are you doing?"

"Waiting for you dipshit," he saidunder his breath. It was only then I saw the case of empty bottles stuffed into the corner behind one of my dressers. The all too familiar 705 lable blazing brightly as a beacon.

"Don't you have to go over to Vash's tonight? I thought Naomi had gotten to town and wanted to see you." I lowered my head to press a cheek against the top of his head as he finally dug out an old and battered orange spiral notebook. "What's..."

"Don't," he snapped suddenly, his body tensing up beneath my touch.

I stood straight and looked at him, a hand resting on the back of the chair while the other clamped onto my waist. "What the hell... first you say you were waiting for me, now you're snapping at me for no reason. Where did this suddenly creep up from?"

"Sorry," he said, choosing an uncapped pen from the cup on the corner of the desk and rising from the chair. "This is private."

"You could have said that to begin with instead of growling at me like that. God... you'd think I stole your car or something by the tone of your voice."

He sighed, his shoulders hunched slightly as he opened the door to the balcony and stepped out, flicking on a switch on the wall behind him. At first I'd thought it was something I'd done (as that's usually the case when he snaps at me so) but what could I possibly have done in less than five minutes to piss him off again? Whatever. I poked my head out the door and pasted on a smile. "If you need me for anything, I'll be downstairs."

"Yeah, okay," he said, his voice carried a note of distance as he scribbled away in that orange notebook...

===

[Joe]

I kept writing until well after he'd gone to the basement. My dream still haunted me in my waking hours. I've seen plenty in my lifetime like that, hell, I even did something like that once... but even this was enough to give me the willies. Yeah, big and tough old Joe.

I tossed the book to the plastic patio furniture table and watched the moths give themselves brain damage by smashing head on into the glass bulb of the light.

I smiled, wondering just what it might be like to be one of them. Knowing only that I was drawn to such brightness, not caring for anything more than that searing white light that forced me to come to it, to try and pound my way through the rounded glass. Trying to get to that thin wire that would cause my small powdery wings to burst into flames if I managed to touch it.

I reached up then, grabbing hold of the lighbulb and turning it the wrong way; feeling the heated glass shatter and slice my skin. Small pieces jabbing into my palm as if it were a knife through butter.

"Fuck!" I exclamined, taking my hand back and holding it in my other, staring down in the dark at the bloody mess I'd made of it, bits of smashed glass and dead moths falling to the wooden floor. "What the hell..." I said, looking to where the light had been, then to the room. I grabbed up my notebook from where it had fallen and carried it in with me, throwing it onto the bed when I passed.

In the light, it looked much worse than it really felt. Slowly I pulled the thin slivers of glass from my had, dropping them in the small golden (fake gold if I remember right) waste basket under the sink. I'd had the mess cleaed out as best i could before running cool water over the fresh slices. It stung like hell. With my free hand I started yanking drawers open, looking for something, anything to put around my hand. All I could find were the small band-aids that were like a joke comapared to what I needed them for. I closed the drawer and reached for one of many colored hand towels on a rack by the sink.

Glancing up at the mirror while I rapped up my injured hand, I caught the smallest hint of a smile in my refelction... though I knew I were not smiling. When I looked again, it was gone.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts for the moment as I left the small bathroom and out the bedroom door. I stopped by the basement for a few minutes, only opening the door.

"I'm gonna head out to my place after all. Want me to lock the door behind me?!"

"Yeah, go ahead. Tell Naomi and Vash I said hi okay!" he called back.

"Sure thing," I said before shutting the door and leaving, being sure to lock both locks behind me.

I was out on the road to the ferry moments later, my hand throbbing and blood soaking into the towel. Though my thoughts were elsewhere as my tired body simply drove.

--------------------------------

(from book 4)

20 September 2003

Act Three; Session Fourteen: Dances of Slaves

[Joseph]

I follwed behind him as we walked. My sister's words swirling through my mind over and over. How could she do this to me, her own brother! How could she just trade me for... that thing ahead of me? The bitch. She was far worse than Naomi, our boss so to speak, could ever be.

We came to a halt where the road gave way to gravel and rock, and beyond that nothing. Nothing but the drab red tinged skyline which I knew to give way to the same somber gray as Shin's eyes. "The Fields?" I asked, coming up beside him. He turned his head to glance at me. I gave my most heated glare. "What business do we have there?"

"The Floating Temple of Tokaido lay that way..."

I blinked. "The what? I've been here almost all my life and I never heard of some damned church being out there."

"Did you bring anything to drink?"

"If I did I sure as hell wouldn't give it to you."

He sighed, shaking his head and turning to enter the shop to our right. "It's not for me Joseph; it's for her," he said, the sadness in his voice more evident than I had ever heard it. I felt a small tug at my heart as he walked away from me. I felt sudden pity for Asaju.

"Wait up," I said, following closely behind. "You can't go out there without a proper cloak"

He stayed silent, even as the bell chimed when he opened the door to the small market.

---

[Susannah]

I led her past the Bridge of Tears to the outer edge of Hades. We waited here now in the gravel between the city and the thirsting grass. The woman, Mirei she was called, was on her knees, digging through the pack my master had given her.

"What do you really look like Susannah?" she asked suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts. I'd changed again when we reached the bridge, though into no one in particular.

"A monster," I replied, which was not too far from the truth. In all truth, I was deformed, even by the standards of my devilish breed. I picked up a handful of rocks, starting to chuck them out into the field, making it silently clear I did not wish to take that subject further.

She stared at me a moment before digging back in her pack again, finally pulling out a small bit of root. "What 'is' this?"

"Alba root," I said. "Prevents decay of the living body. And the small box of what looks like chocolates... that's Fushika. It stimulates cell growth to the point you heal almost instantly... but for Asaju, his wounds were so severe that it could take years for his living body to regenerate fully."

She nodded and put the root back into the bundle. I sucked the air in through my teeth as a chill went down my spine. "Damn living... walk right through you they will." Mirei looked to me with her brows raised in question. "Their shadows. Here, their shadows are like ghosts while there, ours are the same to them... though why there's one here? That's anyone's guess..."

"Can they see us?"

"Sadly, no. But if your eyes are trained well enough, you can see them a little. Squint your eyes and then open them wide slowly in that direction." I pointed out to where the grass began. She did as I instructed, then gasped.

"Joe!" she shouted suddenly.

I shook my head with a sigh. There was still more this girl had yet to learn of this place. We'd wasted enough time. "Come, we must get you to Tokaido."

She rose to her feet and followed me down the rocky path along the edge of the field.

---

[Joseph]

He'd bought a cloak and a bottle of river water, and rented three horses. "You go back to my home, and stay there until I return," he'd said. And to that I shook my head. "You may as well have bought and paid for me, now you're stuck with me."

"There's only three horses," he said, mounting the black mare he'd chosen for himself. "Besides, you would only slow me down."

"It's not easy to lead two horses by yourself while riding a third Asa-"

"Damn it! Stop calling me that! It's the name of a god, not me!" he snapped, delicate hands grabbing up the reigns after tying two other sets to the back of his sadle. "You call me Tem or nothing at all you got that kid," he sneered, starting away from me.

I ran to catch up, grabbing the saddle horn of the white stallion and quickly mounting it, riding along behind him.

"I told you to go back!"

"And I told you no. What are you going to do, fuck me into oblivion?" At this he allowed a laugh.

"...Just like your father..." he said, reaching back to untie the reigns to my horse. "Fine. But you ride double with Susannah when we go out."

"You mean we're not leaving yet?... Procrastinator."

He laughed again, spurring his horse a little faster, though not much on account of the other following behind. I rode up beside him, holding the reigns in one hand and letting the other dangle at my side. We headed north along the edge of town, where the gravel gave way to dirt and a few patches of rocks here and there.

Every so often I caught him looking at me, though each glance was only a short one, followed by a secretive smile. "What are you looking at?"

"A Domo that actually uses their brain... come on. I think it's safe to pick up the pace a little. The more time we waste here, the less I have to get Mirei back home where she belongs."

I pondered a moment. What exactly was it that was so important about this woman that he risk his own shot at Paradise to save? We rode in silence for many miles. I dare not voice my thoughts on the matter of this pitiful woman and the sad creature beside me who loved her.

---

[Susannah]

I stopped, causing the girl behind me to bump into my back. "What's it now?" she asked as I narrowed my eyes, holding my hand above them as if blocking sun from my face, though there was never sunshine here. I sniffed the dry air, catching the faintest whiff of horse dung and sweat.... and lavender...

"He's not too far off now. We keep heading this way and we'll meet up. I told you he'd catch up," I told her with a smile. "He knows this place better than I do, he was born here. Probably took one of the short cuts I have yet to find."

She sighed, pulling the cloak tighter as if catching a chill. I knew her feet were tired, as were mine. The better part of the morning spent running the back alleys, and the later afternoon traveling along the outskirts of the fields.

Within the hour we caught sight of him and the horses. My heart lept when I saw he was still safe.... though my joy deflated when I saw the man riding at his side. I stood in front of Mirei as if to shield her like a mother hen when they rode up.

"Did you get the Dragon fire extract?" he asked as they came to a stop in front of us. I kept my eyes on Joseph as he reached over and untied the reigns to the other horse.

"I did... but do you think that's a little extreme for the situation? I mean, he killed her after he-"

"Safety measures. I don't want any trace left of what he did to her you hear." He reached into his cloak, pulling out a canteen, tossing it over. "Mix it in with that. It's safe to drink. I made sure of it myself before I left the store." He turned to Mirei as I set to my task. "Between here and Tokaido, you must drink it all... otherwise when you wake, that...thing... he left in you will keep growing."

"How do you-"

"I resent that!" Joseph shouted.

"Oh shut up moron!" he shouted back before looking down at me with a gentle smile. "You'll be riding with him until that stuff takes effect. Then Mirei'll be riding with me."

"Yes sir," I replied softly, replacing the cap to the canteen tightly. Shaking it up. He reached down and brushed his fingertips against my cheek. "That's the one you wore when we took our last ride isn't it?"

I said not a word, only handed the canteen to Mirei before joining Joseph on the stallion.

I waited as Mirei tied her belongings to the saddle and climbed on. "We've got miles to go. Don't get ahead, and don't fall behind. We're not stopping until the temple settles somewhere."

"That could take days!" I exclaimed.

"Then we'll follow it for days. The important thing is we get Mirei inside that temple as soon as possible." He kicked the sides of his horse, Joesph and Mirei following suit. All three horses pointed into the heart of the Fields of Woe.

---

[Joseph]

It was two days until we stopped to rest and Asaju had built a small fire, clearing a patch of grass and using the thin sharp blades as fuel for the flame. On the edges of the fire, the meager food supply was laid out to be cooked. Alba root split into two even pieces, four small portions of some kind of meat wrapped in dark green leaves.

Mirei and my keeper both ate a little Fushika, though the woman a much larger share than he. Silently they sat by the fire as Susannah and I tended to the horses. "What do you think they're thinking?"

"He misses him... that's why he let you come along," Susannah said bitterly, running her fingers through the fine mane of the black mare. "Though I could have done a better job of replacing the man than you ever could."

I stood silently, brushing my horse's coat as it bent it's head down to nibble at the deadly grass. "...Replace who?"

"Justine was right. You are the only clueless one in the bunch... Do you know why he annoys you so much?" I shook my head before she went on. "Because unlike your brothers and sister, you take after a human."

"Never!" I exclaimed. The thought of me, human, was near frightening. What would I do if I was anything else but devilish? Without that, I was nothing, no longer a god but a slave... but wasn't I now a slave to a mere man now? Bargained over as if I were nothing already?

"It's the truth. Even the royal courts have been whispering about it."

"How long?"

"Ever since Asaju came back to us. Right before actually. Judas and Cain claim to have seen a soul following you around after your last trip to the living world and-"

"Old men with nothing better to do than make up lies and stories," I snapped harshly, causing her to draw back. I could see the shock in her eyes as she timidly put a hand out to begin stroking the mare again.

The woman, Mirei, came over to us, her canteen slung over her shoulder and hanging at her side, a small portion of food in each hand. "We thought you two might be hungry," she said politely, though gave me a brief glare of contempt.

I wondered how much she meant to Asaju in that moment; for what would be the consequence of reaching out and simply wrapping her in my arms?...

-------------------------------------

RECLAIMATION

note: this story has not yet been broken up into books. it uses it's original chapter numbers.

1 July 2005

Chapter 5: Secret

Underground. Underground. That single thought drove him on. He'd been released, and apologized to, however he had been restricted to his room. Guards were posted outside his door, and followed him everywhere he went. They checked everyone and everything that came into the room. At one point, they had even frisked Dag, who had on him only a pen, a spoon, and a string anklet, aside from clothes of course, which there was not much of either.
Suicidal had moved his things to the corner away from the door, pulling the only lamp with him. Dag didn't mind. He never used it much anyway.
It was four months after his release from the holding cell when he finally emerged from his room, carrying with him his sketchbook and a notepad. A dull pencil was tucked behind his ear. He crisscrossed the underground complex in a failed attempt at losing his guards.
It was V he had wanted to see, but instead found Silent. He hated, but respected the man. He learned that because of him, the two leaders were at each other's throats in a deadly duel of skill... and would not stop.
But that was the least of his worries. He had wanted V, but got Silent, which was even better.
He threw the sketchbook down before the man, who was sitting on a cushion in the floor. "What is this?"
"Open it," he snapped.
Silent looked up at him angrily, but from only a few seconds of that two toned stare, he turned his eyes away. He could not intimidate the man any longer. In fact, it was he who felt intimidated.
"What is this?" he said, at last opening to the first wax crayon covered page. "This is meaningless."
"Keep turning the pages," he said.
He watched the man like a hawk as he slowly went through the book. As he stood there, tall and still, he felt eyes on his back, most of them unfriendly. He did not falter. He kept his place. At last, the leader of the FreeWares closed the book, tossing it aside.
Suicidal only smiled, and threw down the note pad. He only glanced at it, recognizing the symbols scrawled across the yellowed paper. "Useless code."
"My code. Your code. You're the one who wrote what's in my head, aren't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I think you do," he said, his voice lowering. "Blue-sama."
His eyes went wide as he felt the blade against his neck. The red haired man's face was close to his. He could smell the stink of his breath, see the crazed look in his eyes, his blue and lavender eyes. "V said once you used the Faceless. Said you'd sic them on him and his team if he didn't give you my codes. You beat me because you couldn't get in my head. You thought I was working with those bastards that want me dead."
Silent winced as he felt the first slice of the blade. It was not deep, but he could feel the razor sharp edge penetrate his skin.
"One more step and I won't stop here," he said, his eyes still staring deep into the now fearful red ones.
The guards behind him took a step back, their hands never leaving the grips of their guns.
"You tried to have me silenced because you can't control me. You asked me once who I was. You wanted me to tell you I was your's. You wanted me to tell you I came because you called me." He eased up on the knife, and smiled. "The Blue Wind didn't change because of me. You wrote it with a defect, and didn't want it to be traced back to you. You used me, and I don't like being used, understand."
"Y...yes."
"Suicidal! What the hell are you doing! Let him go!"
"Stay out of this V. This is between me and Silent!"
"Suicidal, if you don't let him go, I'll shoot."
"Go ahead. I know you can do it. But before you do... I want you to hear something."
"I'm warning you... I will shoot."
"What are you waiting for, an invitation!" He shoved the kimono clad Silent from him, turning his knife to the men and women who had filed along the walls of the chamber. "Shoot me!"
"Suicidal..." Gem whimpered.
"Shoot me, or I'll do it for you," he said, holding his knife to his wrist. "You want to be a leader. You want respect. If you're a man of honor, you will fucking shoot me!"
There was a flash. But there was no gasp. V fell to his knees, the gun pointing up to the ceiling. Suicidal stood, knife still poised at his wrist. His knife was in his flesh, an inch or five deep. There was no blood.
He knew there would be no blood.
"Don't blame yourself for what happened to the Star Fairy Corps, and the rest of us. It was Silent's doing." Speaking of Silent...
He turned his head, just enough so he could see the blue haired man from the corner of his eye. "You asked me who I was. You asked me who sent me here." He paused, tucking his knife into his belt. "No one sent me, I came with my family. No one fucks with my family and lives. This is your get out of jail free card buddy. Fuck with my head or my family again, I'll have your ware hanging on my wall you read me clear."
He nodded. Suicidal left them. He went topside, sitting by the manhole in the middle of nowhere, Nevada. He sat, smoking a cigarette and feeling the breeze on his skin as the sun rose over Area 51.

---
"Thanks to your little stunt, we were forced to leave the nice, perfect, air conditioned compound!"
"You're welcome," he said, lighting a cigarette. He carried only a small pack on his shoulder, housing his disks and his notes. He no longer carried his whole sketchbook. Only certain pages. It was full anyway. He needed a new one.
V grabbed him by his collar. The two were almost equal in height, Suicidal being just a few inches taller. "You ever pull shit like that again, you won't have to worry about me shooting you. Right boys?"
The others gave their mumbled agreement. Then, in silence, H-man smiled. "It was pretty cool though."
"Yeah," Dag said, clapping his hands happily. "No one buy V's ever gotten that close to Silent Violence and lived to tell about it!"
V's eye twitched as he released him. "Yeah... it was fun watching him almost piss himself."
They walked what seemed eternity through the last dregs of the desert. They bedded down just past a sign that read "Reno City Limits".
The next day, they found themselves in the remains of a city, Reno they supposed if they went by the sign Gen had accidentally knocked down in the dark. It was dusk before they found a suitable place to set up camp.
The gang set down to sleep. Only Ty, Kellog, and Suicidal remained by the fire. There had been no electricity that they could find. They were burning old wooden furniture in a pile to keep warm. It was colder than they remembered.
But at least they weren't underground.
Ty, after a while, passed out by the fire, leaving Kellog and Suicidal to pursue other things.
The herbalist found a nice, somewhat uncluttered spot outside the TV repair store they had decided to use as their base, at least, for the next couple of days. Suicidal sat on an upturned trash can, a cigarette hanging from his lips. He leaned forward a moment, lighting Kellog's before looking up at the stars. He could pick out the colonies one by one. It wasn't hard to see the larger stars in the sky.
Stars. He'd forgotten how beautiful they were.
"Have you ever seen a sky so clean?" Kellog said, sitting on the cracked sidewalk. He leaned back against Suicidal's trash can. "It's perfect. If only this were All Hallow's night," he said with a sigh.
"I was born on Halloween," he said, leaning forward. He rested an elbow on his knee. He watched the cold, empty streets as he breathed in the toxic smoke of his cigarette. "At least, that's what everyone told me."
"How old are you?"
He shrugged. "Last count I had was 26... that was.... about two... two and a half years ago I think."
"We'll just say 28 then. All Hallow's isn't for a few months yet, judging by the moon rises."
"You can really tell that much by the moon?"
He nodded. "I can also tell you what crops are growing, when the best time to get a woman pregnant is, or how long it'll take an ant to find it's home from fourty miles away."
They laughed. He missed timese like these. When did he have times like these? Cool nights spent beneath the stars, enjoying a good smoke with friends...
"Did you really mean what you said when you called us family?"
He blinked, then looked down at him. They stared at one another for a long moment before he nodded. "Sure thing. Nobody messes with my brothers 'cept me. Everyone else will get their balls in a vice."
"Ooh... maybe that's a little harsh," Kellog said laughing. "I've been talking with the guys," he said after a while. Silence settled between them again.
"What about?"
"You."
"What for?"
He bit his lip. "Nobody knows anything about you. Your name, where you come from..."
"I'm not a very talkative kind of guy," he said, not looking at him.
Kellog nodded. "But then again, all we do is ask the same things. No one cares about what's going on in your head."
"On the contrary, that's all anyone ever want's from me."
"I don't."
He looked at him with a brow raised. "What do you mean by that, kid?"
"Nothing. Just that, I don't care what you're thinking. Not at all. I just want conversation. The weather, work, food, that sort of thing."
"The weather's nice, work sucks, I hate meat but love vegitables, and that should be it. Oh, in case you're also wondering, my favorite color is blue."
He rose before the wiccan could say anything more. He left the man outside, staring after him.
He settled into a corner, covering himself with a coat he took off the rack of a clothing store down the street. Using his arm as a pillow, he drifted into sleep.
---

[dream]
"Hey! Over here!"
He looked around the tree.
"Nope, over here! Come on!"
He looked around another tree. He saw briefly a smiling face of a golden sprite. He took off, chasing through the woods after her. He ran, then found himself in the field. That beautiful, purple and green field. But the air was cool. It must be autumn... yes... autumn...
He fell, and rolled through the flowers, laughter beating in his ears.
He couldn't see, a hand covering his eyes.
"Guess who!"
"I give up!" he laughed.
The hand pulled away, and was replaced by the muzzle of a riffle. "Bang," the voice said. "You're dead."
---
They shook him, and he woke up screaming. Ty smacked him across the face as hard as he could. "Snap out of it man!"
"Get him up. We can't stay long."
"H-man, I'm getting bad vibes."
"I've got the CBI on the horn. Sounds like they've just got to 51!"
"Fuck! Why the hell can't we lose these bastards!"
He rubbed his cheek, then pulled on his coat. "The signal... Ty," he said, pointing to his bag. "Ty, get out the green note pad. I had the signal analyzed."
"What signal?" V asked, snatching the bag. He pulled out the pad and looked it over.
"The one I picked up from that bar we were at. It was weak, but I managed to download some of it."
"You stupid son of a-" H-man shouted, getting ready to slam a fire-coated fist into the man's chest.
V stopped him. "No... this isn't CBI code. Who did you have working on this?"
"Just me. Gem helped a little. But it was too complex, I couldn't crack the pattern."
V put it back in his bag. "Don't you ever lose this."
"What the hell is it?" That was Dag while pulling on his pants.
V turned to look at each of them. "I know where we're headed. However they're tracking us, it's irrelivent. It's not our problem. We just have to keep moving."
"V, what the hell's wrong with you man, you've got the shakes!" Gen exclaimed.
"I'm alright. Just get your shit and move! We have to keep moving, even if it kills us."
"Why?"
He turned to Gem with eyes ablaze. "Never question me!" he snapped. They knew by the tone of his voice, the darker side of their leader and friend had emerged... and usually he had a rather good grip on himself, so it was something they were not accustomed to.
The room had cleared out, leaving Suicidal and V. "What was the signal?" he asked, cautiously.
"It's no accident they're after you. They were put on our scent for a reason. What it is, I got no clue. We just have to keep moving till we figure it out."
"Where to?"
"West. Then south. I know a place not even Silent could crack. Now come on. They're close."

---
"They were here..." he said, a hand on his hip. He had been riding all morning from the 51 site. The hackers had been prepared for them, that was for sure... but their ranks quickly went to shambles, their leaders having already flown the coop... but not to give the satisfaction of it to the agents that swooped in on them.
The bodies had been found, headless, in what seemed like a cafeteria, with little notes tattooed on their forheads. Cute... sickening, but cute.
Agent Falco stood holding a plastic bag with a green diskette, unlabeled.
"Send this to the lab. I want the decoded and the data sent directly to my ware." He handed the bag off to someone else before stepping inside the old store.
He covered his mouth and nose with a hankerchief as he stepped through the dust, mold, and broken glass.
"Sir! Sir! Look at this!"
He stepped over the smoldering coals of a fire, hiking up his jeans so that they wouldn't get snagged on the jagged edges of burnt wood. His partner was crouched in the corner, shining a flashlight down on the concrete floor.
He crouched, pulling on a rubber glove. He touched latex covered fingers to the floor, then rubbed the black substance between his fingers. "Coal," he said, looking down at the floor.
There, etched in charcoal, on the floor and up the wall, streatching out from the corner. A picture of Falco himself.
"Sir, it looks just like-"
"I can see that!" he snapped. "Get CSI to snap pictures of this mess."
When he was out in the fresh air again, he was handed a phone. He was on it only a moment before climbing into the Sedan.
"West."
"What?" the driver said.
"Do it! West. Orders from General Savage!"
"Yes sir, right away sir!"
---
They crisscrossed the highways the next month and a half. Sometimes walking, sometimes driving. West, north, east, south. North, south, west, south, east. Back and forth and around again.
It seemed all hope was lost, when at last V told them to stop. They spent the night in a run down hotel. It was situated in a small town. Though tired, Kellog seemed to be enjoying himself, running through the ocean water.
Ty was stretched out on the sand with his shirt off. H-man and Dag had found a hardline and were working rapidly to finish analyzing the signal. This... this would be their home. This would be where the family could live... so sayeth Gem, the defense master.
They had set up alarms all over the hotel, outside, down the street. There weren't many people in the town, so there were hardly any worries of trouble.
As a matter of fact, V assured them they would never be found there. He had seemed to confident at the time, none of them could object.
Gen and Gem were in the water with Kellog.
Suicidal... he sat on a boulder up the beach a little ways, wearing a cowboy hat he'd got in town the day before. His legs were stretched out, crossed at the ankles. His bare feet tapped a soundless tune that had been running through his mind as of late.
"Need any company up there?"
He looked down, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "Come on up," he said.
V had climbed up in no time. Like himself, he still had his shirt on. He didn't care for the ocean much, saying he would only swim by himself and only at the resort he had gone to when he was a child.
Suicidal never said anything. He knew the few memories each of them had were precious, even if they were completely false.
The two passed the time just watching the waves, the birds, though nothing like pictures they had seen of birds in olden times when this beach, like most others, were swarmed with people.
"You can stay as long as you like," V said.
"I know."
"Kel would be happy if you did."
"I know."
"Won't you stay? At least, until we've got things set up again?"
He shook his head. "I've gotta keep movin, make sure nobody finds this place."
"They can't track you. They're following-"
"I know. As long as one of us keeps moving, they'll follow. I'll keep in touch V. You guys are brothers to me."
"I know."
They smoked, and sat in silence again. This time, when it was broken, it was Suicidal who had done the deed. "Thanks. For not killin me."
"I'd never do that."
"You almost did once."
"When? Before I got my-"
"No no... nothing like that," he lit a second cigarette, his first finally going out before he could put it out. "In another life."
"You're nothing but riddles."
"No. Just muddled facts. About 51-"
"Don't say anything about it. You have your reasons, whatever they are. They're good enough."
"No, they're not." He looked at him as he leaned back, propping himself up on his elbows. "Did you ever get the feeling that you don't belong here?"
"All the time. Why?"
He shook his head. "I don't know... I keep thinking about my brother, and Jeremy... and my daughter. She's not mine, I know that. My wife, I never had one. Christina... she was just one of us. Janus... your brother... He's someone else. Everyone is someone else. I can match a million faces to one name. But only one name for every face."
"What name do you match to mine?"
"Voide, definately. There is no mistake."
"And Gem? Dagger?"
He nodded. "Small differences... but they're up in my head too. I've seen everyone, everyone from my memories... except myself. Do you know what the Faceless really are?"
"Memory eaters. Viruses in my data banks."
"No... the Faceless are memories. Lost memories. They eat at you, they chase you, trying to get you to remember... but... there is something that keeps you from them. Keeps them hidden, faceless, if you will."
"I think I follow... when did you decide this?"
"When we were underground," he replied, laying back fully. He lay, the sun beating the top of his hat as he pulled it down over his closed eyes. "When they had me in holding. I had a lot of time to think in there. I think FreeWare set the CBI on our trail after it went cold."
"He would never do that! He was-"
"Using me to get to you, to the world. His power ate him alive until he had no choice but to allign himself with the enemy. That's why you split from FreeWare isn't it? One of their plans backfired and got someone close to you killed. Someone that wasn't Earthborn like yourself."
"Chris..." he said slowly.
"Bingo. I put it together when I was looking through my sketchbook. Certain stick figures kept appearing, telling a story. Her story. Your story. My story. Everyone's story. It all goes back to one single event."
"The mech explosion."
"Right again. If I had a cookie, I'd give it to ya bro. Something happened then, and I think it totally fucked the timeline. This world, it's a dream alright, but it's one hell of a reality at the same time. The rules of science apply, but only to certain things. I mean, H-man can create fire from nothing for Christ's sakes!"
"But if you're right, then..."
"That's a big what if, but it's possible. It would explain why only people with certain skills have a ware. I did a little background check on everyone in Oblivion before the base was found out. And from what I've gathered from the boys, I know where I have to go from here. And I have to pull the CBI with me."
"They'll kill you when they catch you."
"My brain's too important to do that. The longer you live in this reality, the longer you're dead in the real world. The more time you spend dead, the harder it'll be for you to go back. And I have to get back there."
"H-man was right... you are Suicidal."
He smiled. "Yeah... I guess I am..." he said.
"Tell me one more thing..."
"Yeah? What's that?"
"What's your name?"
He hadn't thought much about that. His dreams, his months, years of trying to remember his own name... trying to find that thing that was missing all this time... not just his name, but his life, his memory, his world...
Something Kellog had said hit him hard in that moment of silence. The man had said it would come to him.
Was this it?
"My name?"
"Yes, what's your name?"
He took another long moment to consider his answer carefully. Was it the right answer? Why was it the right answer? Because it sounded right? Felt right? How would he know? Oh, his confusion was rare, and he wished for it to go on. But then, with a bit of resolve, he answered the question of the green eyed blond young man staring down at him.
"My name is Tem."
---
He had not left yet. He knew there was still much time left. He sat by the window of his room, a candle lit, sticking out from the top of a beer bottle. V and H-man had brought some in from town. Not much, but a little. A small treat for such hard work.
He had excused himself quite early in the afternoon, wanting some time to himself. He had been thinking a lot lately.
He had a name. How did he find that name? The enigma of it was alluring.... like the black flower of his dreams. Why had he said those things to V? Were they truth, or just guesses?
"Perhaps you won't know until you find the end of your road."
He turned his head, his knife, the same knife he held against the throat of Silent Violence at 51, was helf tightly in his hand. "It's only you," he said, setting it on the sill. "What do you want?"
Kellog sat beside him, glancing out the window to the stars. "Nothing. Just wanted to know if I can read your cards."
"I told you, I don't do that religious shit."
"It's just a game. Harmless."
"You won't leave me alone until I say yes, will you?"
"That's right," he said, smiling. He already had his deck of cards pulled out of the pouch he always had tied to his belt. "Come down to the floor, and bring that candle too. I'll be needing light.
He did as he was told, and was sitting indian style in the floor. "So... what the hell is this for?"
"I've found it's the best way to find out about someone without the awkward questions. Plus, it gives a small seed of doubt that the card reader is actually correct."
"So all you're gonna do is tell me things I already know."
"Maybe," he said, laying out the cards. He smiled, then turned one over. "Ah... that's interesting."
"What?"
"Well... right off the start, I'm picking up quite a strange thing."
"What strange thing?"
"You're not you. But you are. You feel trapped, torn between what you know and what you feel." He turned over the next card. "Someone stands in your way."
"Who?"
He shrugged, turning over a second card. "You are pursued by unfriendly forces."
"Nah duh..." he said, rolling his eyes. This was ridiculous.
Kellog smiled, tapping the card. "Unfriendly, but wanted. Craved for. You're enjoying the chase more than you let on." He turned the next card. "Ah... but they will not be chasing you much longer. I see something quiet bad in your future my friend."
"All generalizations. You know, you're not getting anything usefull out of this."
Kellog only smiled, touching his hand to the last card, but not flipping it over. "You're right. I'll just put my cards away and go to bed."
He picked up all the cards, and was about to pick up the unturned when he grabbed his wrist. "Flip it. I know you want to."
"You want me to want to. But it's not one for you to see now."
"I said flip it," he growled.
"Alright... but this card is not for you." His hand shaking, his wrist now free, he turned over the final card.
"This card is not for you," he said.
"Tell me what it means."
He drew a deep breath. "Someone close is going to die," he said. "Someone important. Someone you cannot bear to be without."
"I thought you said this card wasn't for me."
"It's not."
"Then who's it fo