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Story
+ Angel Hunt ~ Streifen +
Future Effects
Thirty five years after the first...
A story collaboration between Angel Hunt and Streifen
Chapter Two : Part Three
“Indeed she did.” Jenova chuckles softly, leaning forward to nose momentarily in damp ginger locks before sitting back again “That the boy gravitated towards that child in particular, does not surprise me very much…” The Demon smirks as he tightens his grip around Aki’s body to hold him closer while slender fingers continue to combs through his hair, “I have… worked with her father for some time… sixteen years to be exact…”
“He’s partnered with a female Demon who is also a Council member from what Sen has told me, so he must not be a shining representation of his race because of it.” Aki smirks. “Considering he’s worked along side you for so long… and survived, he must be decently agreeable. He must have come to work with you shortly after this child was born, then.” His head tilts back and cerulean eyes travel up to meet the Demon’s. “I think he’s starting to realize he likes her as more than just a friend. I attempted to scold him for spending an exuberant amount of money on a gift for her yesterday but I know you generally wouldn’t care. She seems like quite a handful, I hope he’s ready for it.”
“He is… more tolerable than the majority of his race. It was because of my …work… that their child was born at all… and no, I cannot say the others of his kind were too happy to see that particular birth happen. Which… if I must admit, is part of the reason I agreed to allow certain research shared when he and Lyrian requested it all those years back…” The Demon chuckles in amusement as glass like claws slip away from Aki’s waist and travel up to sweep long bangs free of blue eyes just when they shift back to meet his crimson.
“A gift, hm…? It seems our son is perhaps… growing up…” Jenova muses while slowly tracing down the contours of the Eclipse’s face with the back of his claws, “I am unsure the boy could be fully prepared for the fire that child holds inside. It will be… interesting, to say the least…”
By the time they had made it to the door they were both completely soaked. The two teens round the corner into the dining room with towels over their heads. Sen smiles as he sees the familiar sight of a large newspaper in a foreign language blocking its reader.
“Hey, Ikk…”
Ikkairius simply grunts in acknowledgement without bothering to lower his paper. Sen turns to the half breed and laughs.
“That’s my Uncle Ikkairius. He’s the one who taught me before I went to school, and he’s grumpy all the time.”
The Ancient Bright finally lowers his paper, narrowing his eyes at the teenagers in front of him. “You look like drowned rats.”
The hybrid smirks and meets iridescent eyes. “See?” He sits down at the table, motioning for Samara to do the same. Servants immediately show up out of nowhere, starting with the half breed as they place a teacup in front of her and begin poring. Another servant places a tray of sandwich meats in front of the teens along with bread and another tray of condiments before disappearing as quickly as they came.
“So your father allowed you to bring another to this house as to take part in more destruction?” Ikkairius brings his paper back up, blocking out the children in front of him interrupting his meal.
“I haven’t destroyed anything in months…” Sen rolls his eyes. “And this is my friend, Samara. You can stop being grumpy for five minutes and say hi.”
The Ancient Bright never moves a muscle. “Hardly.”
Sighing, the hybrid begins making himself a sandwich, speaking to the other teen. “Just ignore him then… but that’s him. He’s a Selestarri, like Dad, except much older and more intolerable.” He chuckles to himself as Ikkairius makes annoyed grumbling sounds behind his newspaper in Selestarri.
“It’s real nice to meet you Ikkairius.” Samara says slowly as if she were talking to an invalid who needed words spelled out for them before her gaze travels down to her teacup. Spending a moment to stare at the steaming liquid, the teenager glances over at the Ancient Bright while he continues to mumble to himself in Selestarri and she snorts before looking back to the teenager at her front. “Well, isn’t he just all sorts of charming…” She whispers sarcastically in Angelic as she reaches up to brush the towel in black streaked white hair before pulling it onto her shoulders. Leaning up in her chair to reach across the table to make herself a sandwich, Sen’s eyes immediately fall on the wet tee shirt clinging tightly to her chest.
He blushes immediately once he realizes what he’s looking at and turns away before Samara can catch him. “Yeah…” He reaches blindly into the tray to fix himself a plate. Clear crimson eyes glance over to the slowly lowering newspaper containing a visibly annoyed Ancient Selestarri.
“Fitting you would find someone just as irritating as yourself, Sen. I am going back to my room to enjoy my reading in peace.” Ikkairius replies in perfect Angelic as he rises from his chair, much to Samara’s surprise.
A sinister grin forms on the hybrid’s mouth before he weaves a small pattern in the air, lighting the very edge of the Ancient Bright’s newspaper on fire. The Selestarri stops in the doorway not bothering to turn around or look down. Licking the tips of his fingers, he reaches down to pinch the small flame out before continuing on his way back to his room.
Sen just laughs. “He’s great to mess with.”
“He seems like it.” She laughs before pulling the sandwich up to her mouth and taking a bit. “How did you manage not to go crazy with an old fogey like that teaching you? He seems just as stuffy as Mister Aduel.” Taking another bite, the half breed’s expression changes to a look of curiosity, “that fire trick you did was super cool though. I’ve never seen magic like that before… it is magic right?”
“He’s actually a lot better than Mister Aduel. He’s grumpy, but he’s not an all out cruel prick and he did teach me a lot. I know magic even Dad doesn’t just because of how much Ikkairius knows. He’s really, really old, like ten thousand years or so, even though he hasn’t been awake that whole time. I guess that long will make anyone a little jaded. It’s done it for Father.” Sen pops the rest of his sandwich into this mouth before starting to make a second, stopping to drink his tea in between. “Umm… that was Selestarri magic. They use patterns to channel their magic and make spells. I can only do simple to intermediate stuff. Ikkairius can do some major patterns just because of the time he grew up in and Dad’s old partner can pull off some amazing shit. Now, Father… I can do some of the stuff Father does, but no where near as well as he can. He can ward off this whole building and no one could find it, not even the highest Angel. I’m still figuring out what I can do as far as his stuff. I need to practice more but I think he’d have to teach me and talking to him is like… well you saw.”
“Yeah, your Father’s pretty rough so I get why you’d have an issue asking him show you stuff like that.” Samara takes a bite of her sandwich while shaking her head in the slightest. “And ten thousand years? That’s a really freakin long time… as least he’s not as bad as that asshole at school. I guess I’d have to get to know him… but God, he seems so annoyed about everything. This was my first time ever meeting him and he already seemed like he hates me for whatever reason…” She sighs and takes another bite, “next time warn me that someone can speak Angelic though, cause I totally didn’t mean to offend him or anything.” Setting her half eaten sandwich down, Samara reaches forward to pull the tea cup to her mouth as iridescent eyes meet crimson. “Old partner? Like boyfriend or something? Can your Father really do something major like ward off this entire mansion? Cause that’s seriously major right there. I mean you could totally feel it coming off him and stuff but still, it seems like it’d take so much to do something like that. I really want to see more of that pattern kind of magic though cause it looks super cool. Think you could teach me it?” The long stream of words trails as the half breed takes a sip of the liquid, pulling it away before flashing the cup a strange look and setting it back down. “Do you have like, anything normal to drink? Tea is so for old people.”
Sen laughs, “Slow down… and yeah.” He motions to one of the servants and asks for something cold, she bows and walks off without ever meeting his gaze. “I think everyone in this house can speak Angelic, well all non-humans. Most of the humans don’t even know we aren’t. Father’s got such strong wards on the place that any norm can’t see things that go that are out of what they are used to.”
The servant returns with bottles of soda and Sen grabs a couple, handing one to Samara as he continues. “Selestarri have partners. It’s like a working relationship, they were never together like that. I can do Selestarri magic because I’m half-Selestarri genetically. The way they channel their magic is different from Angels or Demons. It’s like a single force flowing through them and they use the patterns to tell it to do what they want. The more complicated the pattern, the more powerful stuff you can do as long as you have the magic to back it up. I guess that’s the easiest way to explain it. Unfortunately, unless you’re Selestarri you can’t manipulate magic that way, it’s like a completely different kind. It’s part of them as much as the rest of their bodies. The stuff I pull on to do Selestarri magic is different from the stuff I pull to do Demonic magic.” Sen unscrews the top of his soda and takes a drink. “But I don’t do either of them very much. Either of my fathers can bypass anything I do instantly and Ikkairius has a few millennia on me for practice.”
The hybrid takes another bite from his sandwich. “Father’s stuff is completely different, even from normal Demon magic, because he’s not exactly the same thing as regular Demons. I don’t even know most of the stuff he can do because he doesn’t like using it or he has no reason to. The wards and stuff he’s always done, he can set seals no one can get through. That’s generally how he protects this place. He can heal pretty much instantly. I have healing but not nearly as much as him, it’s slower. Ummm… he can go to Heaven or Hell whenever he wants by himself. I can do it, but it’s hard and takes a lot of effort. I can set smaller wards but since they can get through them without thinking I don’t do it. He can basically go in and shut down your mind by wrapping himself around it. Dad told me he did that for him a few times when he had nightmares back when he was still getting a hold of his magic and the Dark stuff used to set it off. He can read every thought around him and I guess he has to actively try to shut it out. Needless to say, I can never lie to him, he knows… before I even know what I’m thinking, he knows.”
Samara drops her soda bottle back onto the table, flashing the other teenager a look of mixed worry and surprise. “No way.” She groans, pulling her hand away from the glass and up to her forehead. “Okay, that sucks because I totally thought something kind of bad when we were standing in front of your Father. I was really nervous and I thought something like how hot I thought he was but how he looked like he was going to eat me or something-Sen!” Samara pulls her hand away abruptly and points at the hybrid. “Why didn’t warm me about that –god, no wonder your Father didn’t seem to like me, I musta sounded real mental or something…” Making another small groaning noise, the white and black haired teenager lets her head fall forward onto the table causing everything on the surface to shift.
Sen laughs at her. “I’m sure a lot of people have thought much worse in front of him. At least you weren’t thinking about all the nasty ways you’d like to kill him, which is what most of the Highers are thinking when they come by.” He taps the side of his head. “I can generally read anyone I want to, except Father, but I do have to put effort into it.” Samara lifts her head up giving Sen another worried look. “No, no, I haven’t been in your head. I don’t like doing it so I stay out of everyone’s. The only time I’ve ever gotten anywhere close to that is when I’m communicating telepathically and that’s different. I can’t see anything you’re thinking other than what you’re saying to me. Father doesn’t like reading others either, so he makes an active effort not to for the most part. And Father doesn’t like anyone, he acts that way towards me too. The only ones I have ever seen him let himself relax around are Dad and Uncle Fuan, that’s it, period.”
Breathing a long sigh of relief, the half breed sits up and reaches out for the bottle, pulling it to her lips and taking a drink before setting it back down, “Okay, I feel better then…” Sitting back in her chair, she pulls slender arms up and crosses them beneath her chest as shiver races over her skin from the cold finally seeping in, “I so don’t want to mess anything up for my dad just because I accidentally thought something to piss him off. I wonder why your Father’s like that, so… you know… closed off. I mean my dad’s strict as all hell but he still smiles and stuff… don’t get me wrong, he seems really, really cool, just a total galaxy away from your Dad. It’s kinda weird.” She sighs, “But then again, the same thing gets said about my dad and my mom all the time so maybe it’s not all that weird…” Samara smiles while pulling her arms in tighter as another shiver courses through her, “Who’s Uncle Fuan anyway? You keep talking about him and at Rox you said it looked like his dresser. I can’t imagine a boy who wears that kind of thing. Unless it’s like what my mom got for my dad… but that was custom and it’s designed for a guy so it’s not so… you know, fruity.”
The teenager stops suddenly and flashes Sen a mildly teasing stern look “By the way, now that I know you can, don’t you ever go into my head like that, you got it?”
“I wouldn’t!” Sen puts his arms up as if she was going to attack him. “I swear, I don’t even like doing it.” Noticing her shaking from the cold, the hybrid finishes his drink before standing. “Come on, I’ll show you my room and you can borrow some dry clothes. They can have yours cleaned and dry for you before you go.” The pair begin walking to the stairwell, and Sen continues talking as they go, trying to figure out how best to put the whole situation without going into too much detail. “Uncle Fuan used to be with Father a long time ago, then some pretty bad stuff happened to him. I guess he still kind of is with Father, but he lives with Tien Jen out at the shrine. Those two have been together for about as long as Dad and Father have. Uncle Fuan couldn’t really have the same kind of relationship he once had so they kind of spilt off with others they found who they love just as much. Dad knows the whole thing and he and Uncle Fuan are good friends.”
Samara flashes Sen a slightly confused look as the two teens begin climbing the long, winding staircase up to the fourth floor. “Uncle Fuan is very… flamboyant. He likes his dresses and his jewelry, but he’s very classy about it. Dad says he reminds him of an old movie starlet. He has a room upstairs with us for when he visits and it’s full of his stuff but we can’t really go in there. It’s one of the rules.”
“Aw, sucks” the half breed says as they continue to climb the stairwell. “Cause I kinda wanted to see his jewelry. I can’t even picture someone having a ton of stuff like they have in Rox, especially a guy.” She laughs lightly while sliding her fingers up to pull the towel tighter around her body. “So wait, you mean your Father and your Uncle are still together? How does that make your Dad feel? I know you said he knows and stuff, but doesn’t he get jealous at all? My mom would totally freak if my dad was ever with someone else and I can honestly say that if my mom ever messed around, my dad would kill whoever she got with.”
“Well, it’s kinda not like that.” He takes his own towel off and wraps it around Samara’s shoulders. “Where Dad comes from, they generally don’t have committed relationships so monogamy isn’t a normal thing. Actually, Dad’s pretty weird considering he wants to only be with one person. It’s really complicated but while My Uncle and Father are still together, they aren’t really with each other anymore. Dad’s always been ok with it because Uncle Fuan was there from the beginning and because of the situation. Like I said, they are really close friends and have no problem with each other like that. Uncle Fuan generally only comes by a couple times a year anymore anyway.” He thinks on it for a moment, “Oh yeah, because I just realized how gross this all started sounding. I’m not actually related to my uncles, either of them and neither is Dad or Father. I just call them that because they all kind of raised me.”
“Okay good” Samara says, pulling the second towel closer, “cause I was going to say it was starting to sound really off there for a minute.” They laughs softly just as the two hit the fourth floor landing.
“So Uncle Fuan’s room is that way.” He points to the end of the hall. “My room’s right there.” Sen motions ahead. “And Dad and Father’s room is all the way down there. That’s all there is up here, really.”
Iridescent eyes travel from the doorway of Sen’s room to the door of Fuan’s room before moving to the end of the hall to find nothing but a wall on either side. Raising an eyebrow the half breed turns to the other teenager and smirks, “Ha. Ha, funny. What? They sleep inside the walls or something?”
Sen looks at her in confusion and she just motions towards the end of the empty hall, “Walls, Sen. There’s totally nothing down there but walls.”
“Wha? No, it’s right down…” Sen stops when he realizes what Samara’s seeing. “Shit, I didn’t realize he warded it off that much…” He turns back to the other teen. “You can’t see it because of the wards he put up. I guess he lifted the one to the fourth floor but not his end. Father goes to extra lengths to make sure no one knows where he stays. I guess he’s had a few people try and kill him his sleep before. The only ones who can even get into his room are me, Dad and Uncle Fuan. I didn’t realize we were also the only ones who can even see the door.” He shakes his head. “Come one, I’ll get you some dry clothes.”
“Damn.” She says as she follows Sen to his room, glancing back to the end up the hall just as he opens the door and steps inside, “that’s crazy cautious…” Turning her attention back, her eyes almost pop out of her head as she steps past the threshold and into the hybrid’s room. “Christ, this place is huge! It’s like four of my rooms put together…”
Sen lets out a small laugh and closes the door behind her before moving over to his wardrobe an pulling it open. Samara moves farther into the room, iridescent eyes traveling over every detail of the other teenager’s living space. Walking over to the far end, she stops in front of the benched alcove lined by a near spanning bay window. The rain beats hard against paned glass as she stares down to the wet grounds four stories below just as Sen walks up behind her with a shirt and pair of draw string pants in hand. “This is like, so cool” Samara says without turning back. “I mean it’s not as high up as ours, but it’s so pretty – the view is absolutely killer.”
“Yeah, if you like nothing for miles.” Sen scoffs. “I’d rather see the city outside my window, it’s more interesting. Here.” He hands her the clothes. “I’ll just step outsi-” Before he can finish his sentence, Samara is already stripping down in front of him. He quickly turns around as fast as he can and stares very intently at the wall. He doesn’t know why it’s such a big deal to him when she does that, but it is. The hybrid doesn’t want her to think he’s looking at her… or something. After a couple minutes he turns back around, relieved to see her completely covered again. Sen kicks off his shoes and sits on the bed. “So yeah, this is my room. Whenever I’m talking to you on the phone it’s usually in here.”
Bending down to pull her wet clothing and the towels from the floor, she shakes them out before dropping them on the alcove bench. Turning back, she reaches up and flips damp streaked hair from her eyes before moving to the carved bed. “Man, my room seems like a closet compared to this …” She says as she leans forward and crawls into the bedding, making it halfway in before sitting back and crossing her legs to her front. Sen’s shirt slips off a shoulder as she leans back on her palms, gaze moving over the area before them while she talks, “but yeah, everything seems so, I dunno old, right?” Turning back to meet the hybrid’s gaze, she smirks. “Way different than my house… ” Samara trails as her eyes travel down to Sen’s own wet clothing and she frowns. “Okay you gotta get out of that stuff too and get dry or you’re totally going to get sick…” Pushing herself up, she sits up on her knees and grabs for Sen’s shirt. The other teenager blinks, looking surprised while pulling himself slightly away. Samara rolls her eyes and simply moves closer, “Oh please, like we don’t strip down for Weapons every day in school. Now take it off or I’m going to do it for you” she laughs while grabbing for his shirt once again.
“I know, it’s just…” Sen laughs as they wrestle for his shirt. Samara grabs onto the fabric and the hybrid falls back on the mattress as she pulls it off him, unable to stop herself from falling forward on top of him during the movement. With Sen’s wet shirt still in her hand, Samara pushes herself up in the slightest, long damp black streaked white strands falling around the as they meet near face to face. The two just stare at each other, their bodies only inches apart. Both teens hesitate, not sure what to do.
All he can see is her face, he can’t even force a coherent thought. Iridescent eyes meet clear crimson and he’s about to say something when Samara’s lips come crashing down against his. Sen freezes in place, eyes going wide as the taste of the half breed’s kiss washes over him. Slowly pulling her lips away just enough to speak, Samara’s eyes reopen and her gaze once again rises to meet the one beneath her. “Sen…” She whispers directly into his mouth.
He can’t speak, he can’t do anything. Did Samara just kiss him? Like she actually thought of him that way? Sen lies there in shock unsure what he should be doing. The half breed repeats his name and he meets her gaze. He tries to get a hold of himself and attempts to force the words from his mouth. “S-Samara… I can’t believe you did that.”
“Oh my god…” Iridescent eyes widen moments after Sen’s words of disbelief come spilling out of his lips. “Oh.... my god.” She repeats before quickly sitting up and pulling herself off of the hybrid’s body. Dropping Sen’s wet shirt next to him, she turns away from him and pulls her fingers to her mouth, closing her eyes tightly. Shit, this has to be about the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to her. Ever. She wasn’t even thinking when she did that, she was just so caught up in the moment and the way he had looked at her, she really thought that maybe… but then that look on his face when she pulled away, like she was repulsive or something. God! Her mom was so wrong, he doesn’t think of her like that at all. This totally fucking sucks.
“Samara… I-”
“I’m sorry, Sen… I didn’t… I’m just sorry. I have to go.” The half breed doesn’t even turn around, she can’t bring herself to see what was behind her. Grabbing her purse and shoes, she runs out of his room and starts down the stairs.
“Samara, wait!” Where was she going? He wanted to tell her that he couldn’t believe she did that because he liked her too. But maybe she doesn’t really like him like that. He doesn’t know. Why would she just run off like that? Sen paces his room for a moment trying to figure out what the hell he should do before he darts out after her, racing down the stairs.
By the time he catches up she’s already in the foyer. He reaches out to grab her arm and she jerks away, refusing to turn around. “Samara wait…” She just shakes her head and walks out the door. The driver of the Towncar gets out and open the door for her, closing it right after and climbing into the front seat to start the car. Sen catches a glimpse of her face. Was she crying? Why? What did he do? She’s never acted like that towards him.
“Take me home.” Samara hiccups in the slightest to the driver, still refusing to meet the hybrid’s gaze as the rain beats down on the sleek black car. “Take me home, now.” Nodding, the driver pulls the vehicle away from the entrance, leaving Sen standing bewildered and shirtless in the rain at the top of the stone steps. She manages to hold herself upright as the car pulls up to the large cast iron gates framing the mansion, sinking down and burying her face in her hands her quiet sobs lost in the sound of the heavy down pour around them.
Sen stares at the towncar as it pulls out onto the muddy road just beyond the gate, watching in silence as it disappears into the gloom beyond the boundaries, still not sure what it was that he did wrong. Spending another few moments getting soaked, the hybrid finally turns back to the doorway and walks back into the mansion, immediately handed a towel by a nearby servant as he steps into the foyer.
Reaching out to take it without looking in the woman’s direction, he makes his way slowly up four flights of stairs and back to his room, his mind replaying the events over and over again. Closing the door behind him, he sighs heavily and leans back against the cold wood while staring down at his feet for a few minutes before clear crimson eyes slowly rise and settle on the other teenager’s wet clothing she’d left resting on the alcove bench.
“Shit.” He just doesn’t know what the hell happened. Picking up her things, he walks down to the third floor, flagging down a servant and asking her to clean and dry the clothing for him. She nods once before taking the wet garments and walking away without a sound. Returning to his room, he grabs his cell phone and attempts to call her. If nothing else she needs her clothing back and he wants to know what all that was.
The phone on the other end rings and rings but never picks up or goes to voicemail. Did she turn it off? Why? He couldn’t stand not knowing what the hell was up. Sen dials again, attempting to leave a text message, asking her to call him so he knows what he did wrong. After sending it, he gets an immediate response.
This number is not accepting text messages at this time.
You’ve got to be kidding. He would call her home number but she won’t be there yet and he’s not even sure she would talk to him at this point. He’ll just have to wait until he saw her at school tomorrow to sort this whole thing out
Sen steps into the noisy homeroom as his classmates all stand around in their groups, talking and gossiping amongst themselves like they always do before first bell. Clear crimson scan the crowded area only to find the one he was looking for non existent so he moves over to his desk and dumps his books onto the top before sitting down a little heavily in his seat. Where was she? For months now Samara had been meeting him near the front doors of the complex and they always walked to homeroom together and the few times she hadn’t done that, she was at least in class talking to her group… so what the hell? He really needed to talk to her about yesterday.
Seconds after the thoughts leave his head, Mister Aduel storms into the room, sending the teenagers nearest to his desk flying away as fast as they can manage.
“Seats!” He yells out in Angelic moments before the bell rings.
Everyone settles quickly while he begins taking attendance and Sen looks over to the still empty half breed’s chair at his side before turning to Meiru and whispering, “Hey, do you know where Samara is?”
The girl blushes softly and glances quickly to the teacher to make sure he wasn’t looking before answering, “No, she’s got office duty this whole week for first and last periods. Didn’t she tell you?”
“No…” Sen starts, “She-”
“Be quiet mister Founder’s son, or I will assign you detention for disrupting my class.” The Angel interrupts abruptly, pulling the entire class’s attention in Sen’s direction.
Sen looks away, too distracted to actually pay attention to anything that asshole had to say. “Sorry…” He looks ahead once everyone had resumed their class work. There was no way he could sit here for the next forty five minutes and just wait, but if he draws any more attention he won’t be able to leave no matter what. Fuck. Sen pulls out his phone and turns the sound off, attempting once more to text message Samara in hopes that she’s turned her phone back on and is somewhere that he can at least get some sort of answer.
This number is not accepting text messages at this time.
Damnit. Sen resigns himself to waiting until Weapons. She has to be there. He’ll give her back her clothes, they’ll talk and everything will be ok again, right?