Chapter 38 - Nothing

Iris

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"What? ...Dead?"
Asher bared his teeth in a cold grimace, sharp fangs flashing. Valkyre let go immediately, pushing himself backwards, away.
"Yes," the other hissed, "the same night we caught you, and you escaped. And, of course, it's only through sheer carelessness that I'm still alive, when they're dead."
Valkyre was shaking his head. "Wait. I don't understand. Why would Raguel want to kill you? I... I suppose he might've seen you as enemies, but..."
Asher's pale eyes widened, surprised.
"You honestly didn't know?" The vampire studied him more carefully. "You're serious. You really didn't know what he was going to... what he did??"
The angel sighed. "Of course not. Raguel wanted Ir..." he paused, glanced at the boy still crouched on the ground, face turned impassive again. Valkyre shook his head. "No," he muttered, "We're trying to avoid him as well."
Asher blinked, gauging him. "That still doesn't explain why he killed them," he whispered. "And just because you don't know everything Raguel's doing, it doesn't mean you're not in league with him. Why should I trust you??"
Valkyre scowled, but was cut off before he could retort.
"Raguel... wants death."
Iris looked to the angel briefly, then drew closer, curling up against the other, blank eyes blinking dully, then lowered his gaze, face pressed to clothing.
"He doesn't see life in living... creatures. ...In humans, and things like humans. All of it... is death to him. Life... is only the world."
Valkyre blinked, letting his hand rest on the top of the boy's head.
Asher snarled, glowering. "Are you trying to tell me that's why he killed them?? That's a poor excuse, little"-
"Watch your tongue," Valkyre snapped back, scowling. The angel stared into the pale yellow eyes that glared straight back at him, and as he did so, he noticed the almost-hidden recoil of pain. Valkyre was startled to realize that, truly, Asher had cared about the others.
...It wasn't a completely obscene idea, then again, but bounty hunters were mostly individual in their doings, and relationships tended to remain distant and fragile. Teams were formed only when hunters sought greater strength in numbers, or in more varied abilities.
The angel sighed, lightly shaking his head. "This is becoming pointless," he muttered, then looked back up at Asher. "It's best not to speak more of the dead. I... I'm sorry about your loss, Asher. I understand that you and Ayra were"-
"Fool! It wasn't"-
Valkyre blinked with faint surprise as Asher bit back his sudden words, scowling, suddenly jerking his head away to avoid the other's gaze.
"...Yes?" The angel quirked a brow, mildly amused. The other was biting his bottom lip, face flushed just slightly, hiding something.
"...It... it wasn't Ayra," the vampire muttered at last, pale eyes flickering briefly to Valkyre's before they were cast down again. "I... she wasn't..."
Valkyre paused, realizing with a mild pang of guilt that he'd probably intruded onto territory best left alone. And yet, the sudden sparked idea was too much for him, and he asked, quietly, "...It was the other, then? ...Phelan, was it?"
Asher's head jerked up, sharp eyes glaring, but the vampire was the first to back down, glancing aside.
"...Yes," he muttered. "Phelan and I... he was..." The other trailed off, uncomfortable silence settling down over them.
The angel took the time to reflect, startled at this new, rather haphazardly gained information. Phelan, the werewolf. ......He and Asher were opposites, and yet...
Valkyre broke the silence finally, after what had felt like a suffocated eternity. His voice was quieter, respective.
"...Is that why you hate Iris?"
The vampire looked up sharply, scowl pulling at his face. "Of course," he hissed. "You have any idea what it's like, angel?? We only wanted to be together, but everybody, everything, even the world itself denies it! We couldn't even touch each other without feeling pain! Why?!?
"...And then... this... boy, this..." Asher glared at Iris, whom only stared back, impassively. "...This child, he has it, in his body?? He was born, born able to break this barrier between bloods??? It... we..."
The vampire's lips drew into a thin line, brows drawn together.
"Forget it," he hissed. "...This doesn't matter."
Valkyre sighed, leaning back.
"...I'm sorry, Asher. I... I really am."
The angel focused his gaze on the other, surprised suddenly to see the familiar sharp grin creep back onto the other's face.
"If you're sorry, you'll let me go. You've made a fine fool of me already."
Valkyre arched an eyebrow, but shook his head, recovering quickly from the change in mood.
"Sorry," he muttered, "but then you'd only fight me again. I suddenly seem to know you too well, it seems; you would only want to kill me anyways, even if you know it's not my fault."
Asher laughed. "Let me loose, and we'll see how well you know me," he shot back.
The angel shook his head, then slowly stood, stretching out cramping muscles. "That'd be downright unfair," he muttered. "You're too hurt. I'll give you some advice- take what hospitality you can get, and use it well. Your wounds are serious, and you'd do better to heal before you try fighting me or anyone else, for that matter."
Valkyre yawned, stretching his arms in front of him, watching idly out of the corner of his eye as Iris slipped onto the bed, quiet and unresponsive as usual.
"I don't need your advice," Asher snarled under his breath, "So don't talk to me like you're my mother..."
Valkyre 'hmm'ed softly, dropping his arms. "Well, fine then, stay awake the night, if you really want," he sighed, stepping aside and quickly flicking off the light.
No sooner had he turned his back to slip into the bed then he heard the hastened scuff on the floorboards. His reaction was faster, and already planned out, having earlier seen just the briefest twitch in the tense ropes tied to the vampire, and he now easily blocked the blow, using Asher's own strength to pull him off balance as the angel rolled onto his back, pinning down both of the other's arms on either side.
Asher, above him, gasped sharply in pain, the angry red wound in his chest moving with his ragged, quick breaths, visible between the ragged torn shreds of clothing.
"Asher."
Valkyre stared up stiffly into the narrowed yellow eyes above him, glowering down, the words momentarily cutting off his weak struggling. Their faces were close, the vampire's unkempt hair falling down into Valkyre's eyes,
"...You said before... that I had tainted blood. What was that?"
The vampire hissed, snapping his teeth, and the angel twisted the other by his grips on the arms, sending Asher thudding heavily to the floor right beside the bed. Before the other could struggle back to his feet, Valkyre unceremoniously pinned him down under his boots by the arm, only partially taking care as to not cause more damage to the wounds.
Asher, forced to accept that he'd been beaten, stilled, though he still scowled, teeth clenched tightly.
"...Well?"
The vampire glanced up at the angel, seemingly only realizing what'd been asked earlier, then looked aside, still frowning.
Valkyre sighed, but stopped as he heard the voice below, almost inaudible.
"You... it was..."
Asher shook his head, scowling. "I don't know," he admitted at last, grudgingly, twisting his head to glare upwards at the other. "Why do you car"-
The boot pressed down harder onto the small of the vampire's back, making him cut off his words with a sharp hiss.
"Elaborate, please? I'm getting sick of not knowing anything, apparently about myself as well."
Asher shot him a death glare, then paused. "You didn't know about it??"
Valkyre rolled his eyes in dismay. "As far as the records go, I'm a pureblooded angel. But I've got reason to doubt that as of late."
The vampire scowled. "Records?? And where the hell did you get those?"
The angel frowned. "What do you mean?" After a moment's hesitation, he lifted up his boot, reaching down quickly and grabbing the other about the wrists and heaving him up onto the edge of the bed. In the dark, it was hard to see the vampire's expression clearly through the dark tangled hair, but there was a flash of white teeth, curled up in a small, knowing smile, twisting the rough edges of the scar on his face.
"Sit still, for once," Valkyre muttered, still holding the other by the wrists, but loosely. For once, Asher seemed to relax slightly, not fighting back.
The vampire chuckled. "You're just playing around, aren't you? You can't seriously not know this much."
The angel tightened his grip just slightly. "Tell me what you were talking about," he demanded.
Asher only smiled back, unperturbed again. "We weren't stupid, you know. Ayra always did background research before we went off on the hunt. We check for everyone's weaknesses, like all good little hunters do. And guess what we found on you?"
Valkyre stared back calmly, trying to remain unperturbed, unaffected, though his lips were drawn tight, and his hands felt clammy under the leather gloves.
"Absolutely nothing."
The angel blinked, mouth creasing into a frown.
The vampire's pale yellow eyes glinted in the dark. "We found nothing. There are no records. According to the state, you don't exist."
Valkyre breathed out slowly. Well, then again, he'd never actually checked for himself. He remembered, briefly, a dispute with Maeve that'd ended abruptly... she'd known, hadn't she?
"Your turn."
The angel looked back up. Asher shook his head, the jet-black strands over his face falling back.
"Care to explain? Not a lot of people get away from the state nowadays, at least, not ones born in the cities." The yellow eyes narrowed, focusing on him.
"Are you from...?"
Valkyre frowned, shaking his head.
"No," he muttered, "I shouldn't have been born far from the state..."
The angel closed his eyes, the inn room fading from his mind, dropping away.
Dark rooms. Shredded floorboards. Staring down at his own hands...
No. He'd been... older. Not... not nearly a newborn. His hands were small, but developed. Dirty fingernails, pale skin, smeared in black...
And then... Camael.
...He didn't know.
Valkyre blinked open his eyes again.
In the end... he didn't know. He didn't know when he'd been born, where, how... His parents were dead. Camael was gone.
He knew nothing about his past.
Sins... real or imagined, he didn't know. Everything... started with that one fragmented memory.
No records. Camael hadn't ever reported him to the state.
Nothing.
Valkyre breathed out slowly, then glanced back at Asher. Surprisingly, the vampire hadn't tried to fight back during his brief relapse... The angel noticed the gritted teeth, then glanced down again at the torn clothing, at the deep gaping wound between the vampire's ribs.
No, he'd had enough. The angel doubted that Asher would have much more to tell him, and besides, it would be best to get some rest for the night...
"Could we consider a compromise?"
The vampire glanced over, frowning, arms still locked behind his back.
"I'll let you go, and you don't bother me. If you're still insistent on fighting me, fine. But wait until you've healed some. And admit it, we both need some sleep."
Asher paused, then smirked.
"You'd trust me, angel?"
Valkyre kept his face calm. His grip on the other's wrist tightened for a moment, then he pulled his hand away completely.
Miraculously, the other didn't move. After a pause, though, Asher brought his hands back around, rubbing his wrists. His pale yellow eyes stayed alert, staring back at the other.
Valkyre ignored him, leaning down to undo his boots. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other start slightly at his movement, then relax again. It was like a game then, each side faking, testing nerves.
The angel paused, then leaned down, sifting around through the pack placed beside the bedside table. Valkyre sat up again, the familiar pen in his hands. He feigned disinterest, tapping the tip of the pen experimentally against his right fingertip, then pressed down enough so the ink would flow.
"Hm... Asher?"
The vampire looked up from where he'd been watching his actions suspiciously. "What?"
Valkyre smiled, leaned forward quickly, and pressed his fingertip to the other's forehead, right above the jagged scar. The magic pulsed out quickly, a short but strong burst, and the vampire's startled yellow eyes faded, then closed. Asher slumped over, and the angel calmly lowered the still body to the floor.
On the pale skin of the forehead, a small black insignia showed, glowing faintly.
It wasn't often that Valkyre resorted to magic like this, but the trick that Camael had taught him from long ago proved to be the best solution to his current predicament. The magic was made strong by the physical form of the symbol, and the mark would fade away before Asher would wake up, hopefully sometime much later.
Sighing, Valkyre made to put the pen back into the pocket, then paused, a thin, small hand resting on his sleeve.
Iris glanced over at him, colorless eyes mildly amused.
"Keep it. With you."
The angel reached out, as if to touch the thin, fragile wrist, then paused. "...Why?"
"...You need it."
Still that tiny, barely visible smile. Valkyre paused, then tucked the pen away into one of the inner pockets of his jacket.
"...Fine."
He breathed out a sigh, pulling off his gloves and throwing them haphazardly on the table, then shifted down under the blankets. He reached out, touched the boy's bare shoulder poking out through the crooked shirt, then stopped abruptly.
The touch... the skin...
Iris' aura. Something about it...
"...Iris?"
The boy was staring at his hand, but looked away at his quiet query. "...Yes?"
"You... you seem..."
The boy only closed his eyes, smiling lightly. As if he knew. As if he knew, and it didn't bother him.
"...Different. Something..."
Something... different. Not necessarily wrong, but... a different aura, slightly. Most definately still Iris, but the skin, the touch...
The blood. Something different as soon as it registered. Something... like the tearstone, but not quite... Something pushed down, away...
"...It's okay. You don't know?" The soft quiet voice. Gentle, calm.
Valkyre frowned. "You know what this is, Iris?"
The boy opened his eyes, leaned against him, curling up, small fingers touching, gripping lightly, skin so cold. Already, the feeling fading. Only the boy left behind.
"Don't be afraid. It's okay. ...Don't worry."
The angel sighed. He knew that he would worry anyway... something... was changing...? With Iris?
Valkyre closed his eyes, curled the boy closer to himself, letting the darkness settle down.
He fell asleep to the double heartbeat against his body, the small form tucked against him, his eyes closed to the smudge of the bat tattoo on the boy's neck.

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AN: Zohmygod. I'm so freakin' sorry.
Two whole months since the last update. I feel so downright horrible. ;o; I'm sorry!
It's just, it's hard to work on things back in China... there was so much else to do, and so little time!
But, well, I'm about to go back, and I just realized how freakin' long it's been.
I'm still gonna need more time, it seems. I was mauled most violently by some writer's blocks, but I managed to stagger through this one... However, I haven't planned too far ahead [heh] and I need to brainstorm some more... I've been fiddling around with some other plotlines as of late... And I'm still scratching and re-writing the parts of TC, which are killing me with the repetition...
I was reading back over Iris [as I am so horrible, and I've got so many little details of my own that I've forgotten about and need to check up on...] And I realized that my style has changed a bit, and I've lost some of the 'dreamy' kinda 'nonsensical details' stuff, settling down with a more tangible style of writing... I hope it's okay! As well, the chars have also changed in behavior somewhat I believe... I'm trying to work on that, too, settling them down...
I'm sorry, but this really is a long-term work, and I hope you can all bear with as I try to hammer it out.
Anyway. This chapter should give you some more yummy [but useless, heh] details, and I'm trying to move on to some stronger plotline, I really am. ;o;
Thanks to all of you that still comment! As long as you comment, I promise to keep going. ;o; ::bows down repeatedly::
As well, I have gotten a real fanbase set up, it seems! SenayDragon has drawn my beautiful Iris-baby, and so has DefyDeath_DefyMe, with Valkyre included too! ^_________^- They really cheered me up, and got me going on Iris again, both of you guys! Thanks a ton!
Hope for next chappie sometime soon! Promise not to quit!

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