Zephyr Chapter 1

1

Kismet Productions Presents...2

Soft Whisper "The morning is coming when a messenger of dreams..."3

An Eternal Angels Project...4

Voice "The heart has its reasons, for which reasons cannot know..."5

Sponsored by Destined Magic, Mystik Eternity and Chaos's Love...6

Scream "...omae korosu...!"7

Zephyr...8

Chapter 1...9

...Lacerta (Iva)...10

...Cygnus (Beres)...11

...Auriga (Viathan)...12

...Lyra (Rui)...13

...Aquila (Xion)...14

...Cetus (Lexan)...15

Rannison woke up with a start.  He sat up; the sheets were drenched with cold sweat.  He placed his hands on his face and tried unsuccessfully to recall his dream.  Slowly, he got up and walked into the restroom.16

As usual, he walked back out looking fresher after a cold shower and found another one of his father's notes, taped on the banister this time.  It was a Friday.  Throwing on a black sleeveless shirt and a pair of black raver pants, he walked down the stairs silently.17

It was there that he first felt the difference.  There was an eerie silence; the birds seemed to have abandoned their shelters in a hurry, and the dogs hid in their corners, whimpering slightly.18

He ignored the strange feeling and continued to his morning workout.  He opened the screen door and stepped out to his yard.19

He never knew what hit him.  It was as if he had walked into a wall of electrified spikes, setting every nerve in his body on fire.20

He collapsed onto the ground in agony, the force intensifying in his head.  The last thing he saw as his eyes closed again was the pleading face of an attractive young girl...no, she wasn't human...?21

"...Now hollow fires burn out to black...22

...And lights are guttering low...23

...Square your shoulders, lift your pack...24

...And leave your friends and go...25

...Oh never fear, man, nought's to dread...26

...Look not left nor right...27

...In all the endless road you tread...28

...There's nothing but the night..."29

When he woke up, he knew right away he was not in his house...or had he woken up?30

He stood, with shaken feet, and looked around.  He found himself in a yard, and after a closer look, he realized he was in someone front yard.  It was quite a big space, at least 50 meters across, and at the edge stood an enormous house.  Its hollow face gave off a sense of dread, and Rannison, who almost always kept his composure, shivered.  The air itself smelled of death.31

Another thing he realized that was very unnerving was the silence...not a single bird chirped, and not a single rodent stirred.  There was complete silence.32

Rannison found himself crossing the yard quickly, as if being summoned by the house itself, and opened the tall wooden doors without a single creak.  Walking in, he sensed, not heard, the doors shut behind him once again.  He found himself in a long walkway, the sides bordered by still statues of the Greek era.  As he walked down the path, he felt a wind, one that did not belong...33

He suddenly moved at a forwarded speed again, with no control over his own body movements, taking turns throughout the winding passages without hesitation.  Finding himself at the entrance of a staircase, he started to walk downwards.34

The surreal effects convinced him he was dreaming...yet it was so real.  Again, he was surprised to find that he had entered the last place he expected.  It was an underground hedge maze.35

He realized with a start that there was what seemed to be an actual sky above him, even though he knew he must've been at least 100 meters below ground level.  A wind picked up and the leaves rose with it, flying away from the dirt path and brushing against the leaf walls.  A sudden sense of foreboding came upon him, his body tensed up, and a shadow crossed his vision.36

"Who are you?!" he shouted at the shape, but he didn't expect an actual answer.37

"I have no name."38

"What...?  Where is this place?"39

"..."40

Flash  "No!"41

Finality  "All that we call lies contain fragments of the truth, and what we call truth bears shreds of lies..."42

"Oh God...no!  STOP!!  Please!" Rannison once again collapsed to the ground, clutching his head in pain as images, hundreds and thousands of visions of pain and despair rushed into his head.43

The fires raged, the waters cleansed, and darkness enveloped all that he saw.44

"Now you see the glory of my realm.  This is the place of ultimatums and ends.  No one who has known me has ever come before me and walked away.  Those who have tried have deemed themselves unworthy.  You will die, just like the rest of the rats!"45

Her final laughter sent another wave of pain throughout his writhing body, and he cried out in surprise as he suddenly felt a streak of pain across his back.  But an equally surprised cry wrung out from the hideous voice.  Then, unconsciousness enveloped him once more.46

It was almost evening, and Angio found himself walking along the sidewalk of the Forecast complex, making a turn here and there, and made his way towards Rannison's house.  Walking along side of him was Amber, her red bangs occasionally covering her eyes until she brushed them out of the way.47

"Are you sure he hasn't just gone out?" she asked skeptically.48

"I'm sure, he wouldn't just leave like this without telling anyone, and especially not for so long.  Besides, we didn't see him at school today either...and it's getting late.  Something must be wrong."49

They made the rest of the way silently, and soon arrived at the front steps of Rannison’s house.  The door was locked.50

Angio rang the doorbell and waited.  There was nothing.51

"Rannison!" Amber called out, knocking on the door.  "It's me, Amber!  Are you in there?!"  And again, the only answer was silence.  She was already beginning to reach for her keys when they heard a shuffling sound from the side of the house.52

They shared a worried glance with each other, and Angio walked around the driveway to the side gate.  Hopping the wall in one swift jump, he cleared it with only a little difficulty, and Amber jumped right after him.53

"Rannison!" Angio shouted, and Amber rushed forward to find the young man lying on the cement, his body limp and unmoving.54

Angio went into the house to find the phone, while Amber dragged him back inside, where it was warmer.55

His eyes opened.56

Amber screamed in surprise, almost dropping him back onto the ground.57

"...R-Rannison...?" she squeaked, her eyes filled with fear.58

His breathing was ragged and animal like, and his eyes remained open, locked onto her...and their color...a hint of red?59

"Amber?  Are you alright?  I found the phone, I'm gonna call up my cousin to pick us up, alright?" Angio said as he walked into the room.60

Amber looked up at him and opened her mouth, but when she looked back, Rannison's eyes were closed, and his breathing was slow and steady...she almost heard a subtle snoring emitting regularly from him.61

"...Uhh...yeah, alright.  I-I'll go call my mom and tell her where I'll be..." Amber mumbled, exiting the room to find the other phone as fast as she could.62

The group's parents were accustomed to this, since Angio, Amber, Miyaka, Stephanie, and Rannison had been together for years.  They were trusted enough to spend the night at each other's houses, and they even had a pair of keys to each others' houses; as far as the parents were concerned, with nationality and blood aside they were practically family, so there wasn't a lot of trouble convincing her mom to let her stay at Angio's, especially since it was a weekend.63

As Amber walked out to the front to wait for Angio's cousin, Angio tried to carry Rannison on his back.64

"...And on the fourth day of the failing light, your soul shall be taken..."65

"Huh?"  Angio looked back at Rannison, whose chin was on his shoulder, but saw only a peaceful expression of sleep.66

Angio cursed under his breath for his own paranoia, and continued to walk, not noticing the blood that was slowly soaking through the back of Rannison's shirt...67

A joyous voice singing...  "...I will not allow your presence to stagnate this beautiful land!  I banish your shadows from here, and so says I, the Lady of Beginnings, that from the void to a sprout of life, you will not touch them..." and so the first Book was sealed, the Book of Creation...68

A peaceful voice murmuring...  "...your dark vile touch shall no longer linger upon our land!  I banish your shadows from here, and so says I, the Lady of the Present, that from the sprout of life to a height in life, you will not touch them..." and so the second Book was sealed, the Book of Time...69

A content voice recalling...  "...and your remaining touches of evil too, shall be destroyed!  For I also banish your shadows from here, and so says I, the Lady of Ends, that from a height in life to a final, last breath, you will not touch them..." and so the third Book was sealed, the Book of Destruction...70

A dark voice laughing  "...who are you little ones to banish me?  I am the Olden One...when you came to existence, my ravaging touches had already defiled the lands for centuries...and so shall it continue to do so..."71

There was a light first.  It wasn't a blind and piercing one...but a warm, welcoming, comfortable one...one that he knew...from somewhere...?72

PAIN73

A caress... "I love you..." A limp hand... "No!  DON'T DIE!"74

And then came the voice...one he knew well.75

"Rannison?  Are you alright...?"76

He opened his eyes.  He was on a couch in a garage...Angio's from the looks of it.  Amber was there, kneeling down next to him, and looking at him with worried eyes.77

He opened his mouth to reply...but stopped.  He looked at her more closely, studying intently.  There was something amiss.  He just couldn't tell what...couldn't tell what it was that was bothering him.78

She was wearing a simple black... FLASH ...cloak... FLASH ...sweater, with a pair of... FLASH ...blood-stained... FLASH jeans.79

"Rannison?" she asked again, cutting into his thoughts, and he realized with a start that he'd been staring at her for a few moments now.80

"Oh, uhh, I'm sorry...just...another nightmare..."81

She looked at him with a puzzled expression.82

"'Another' nightmare?"83

He looked down with a look of embarrassment, and reached his arm out to--84

SCREAMING85

"YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER!"86

DYING87

A heart-wrenched cry...88

--He jerked his hand back so hard and fast that she jumped back startled.89

"I-I'm sorry," he stammered, but the despair that suddenly filled his mind, his soul, still lingered fresh, a shadow in his mind that refused to be banished.  Where did all these...emotions...come from?90

"Are you alright?" she asked hesitantly, but Rannison saw with a sharpness that he felt did not belong to him that she was terrified.  It seemed as if all of his senses were flooding and overwhelming him.  He heard the slight quivering in her voice; the trembling of her body that was so minute that he felt rather than saw it.  Her body seemed to his inner mind to be emitting her fear as bright as a flare in the black of midnight.91

"Yeah," he replied after a split second of hesitant silence.  "Yes, I'm sorry to have worried you guys."92

He then did something very unexpected.  He smiled.93

"I...well, thanks."94

Amber looked very taken aback, but any traces of fear from before seemed to drain out of her.95

"You're awake?" another familiar and friendly voice came from the doorway.  Angio wore his usual grin on his face, closing the squeaking door behind him as he entered.96

"I wasn't fully before, but now I am," Rannison carefully chose as a reply.  They were worried enough as it was; it just wouldn't due for him to make anything more seem wrong to them.  Telling them he was having reoccurring nightmares, along with continuous hallucinations, was not a good way to calm his comrades.97

He frowned as he realized what he had just thought of his childhood friends as.  Yet he felt as if it were natural to address them as his allies.  He dismissed the thought as the pair next to him made eye contact, because he knew that the real questions would come now.98

"What happened, Rannison?  It's not like you to pass out like that."  What the hell happened?  I know there's something wrong, so spit it out.99

"I dunno, guess I pushed myself too hard when I was training."  Ha, like hell I will.  Just mind your own damn business.100

Angio frowned.  He knew Rannison was hiding something, but he didn't pursue the matter.  Amber, however, didn't buy in to it so easily.101

"No way, there must be something el--" then she took in a breath so sharply, Rannison thought she had choked.  She lunged forward and grabbed around his waste, and Rannison noticed for the first time that his back was very damp.102

"What the hell?!" Angio stammered.  His eyes hadn't adjusted that fast to the dim lighting in his garage, but now that they did he noticed the primal-red stain that had seeped almost completely through his friend's shirt on the right side.103

Swallowing with his suddenly parched mouth Rannison turned around, guided by the not-so-gentle and panicky hands belonging to Amber, allowing them to examine it.  To his add to his already peaked sense of bewilderment, their expressions upon seeing the wound changed from panic to perplexed.104

"What is it?!" he snapped impatiently after a long staring session with no remarks from them.105

Amber snapped out of her stupor and replied, "There's five cuts in your shirt, and a lot of blood but..."106

"But what?" he prompted her, feeling more irritated by the second.107

"There's no wound," Angio finished for her.108

There was yet another moment of awkward silence, which was only broken by the sounds of Rannison getting up and asking for a spare change of clothing.  Angio absentmindedly lead him into his room while Amber retreated back into the house and to the front door, where a worried Miyaka accompanied by Stephanie was knocking at the door.109

The rest of the evening progressed with no more surprises, and dinner brought about laughter that lightened everyone's mood again.  Even Rannison donned a cheerful demeanor as he reassured Angio's family and Miyaka, thanking them for their hospitality and apologizing for being the cause of such a commotion.  Unbeknownst to everyone else, Rannison, Angio, and Amber found that sleep would not come to them easily that night, each of them flooded with their own thoughts and fears.  When sleep did come, some of them dreamt.110