"You Know... I still don't forgive you" (private: Kyll and Zenshin)

Kyll had walked up to a grave site that she made for a fallen comrade. Kyll had previously heard that he had fallen and was never seen again. She sighed as she held a box of food in her hand. She chose a hill that had a good view of the now almost abandoned guild. The only few members left had been outside of the guild for quite some time. She pulled a small two inch thick lunch box out of her obi and sat it at the front of the grave. She clapped her hands and bowed her head. She then looked at the grave. It was decorated with a couple of flowers and had a shot glass at the top of if. "Today's menu for the egotistical bastard who I bad mouthed..." Kyll said with a hint of sarcasm. She pulled the top off of the box revealing salmon with vegetables and rice. Steam was pouring out of the container. Kyll then pulled another box out of her obi and a pair of chop sticks. She sat down beside the grave looking off in the opposite direction. She could see the village down at the foot of the hill. The mountains around the area were very vast. She stuck her chop sticks in her food and stirred it around. "You know... I've been cooking for the guild lately. No one really seems to come in anymore." Kyll looked at the grave. "You know I said this last week, the only reason I come out here is because my mentor told me that if I didn't feed you, you would come back to haunt everyone... Everyone around here knows that ghost freak me out." Kyll didn't even take a bite. "I wonder... It's weird, I'm not scared of spirits when they are where they belong, but when they are outside of their realm. They freak me out."

Kyll stared at her food. "It looks like I won't be eating lunch with you this time either Zenshin." She said with a smile looking warmly at the grave. "Instead we can talk about some different things." Kyll turned around looking out towards the guild. She hugged her knees to her chest and frowned. "It was my 26th birthday a few days back and I told everyone about a celebration I was having. I made cake and different foods for everyone, but... To no avail, nobody came to it. I wouldn't blame them. They don't really know me. Hell... You don't even know me. I just know that you're dead, and I'm out here on obligation. You know I still haven't forgiven you about that incident with my book." Kyll said glaring at the grave. "As if you could apologize anyway... if you were here, I know you would probably try and help me out with my issue."

As strange as it seemed, Zenshin did go visit his makeshift grave site that Kyll had set up for him, and was the only who came to visit. Only Alye really actually knew that he was still alive and kicking, and she made sure everyone else would never find out he was. Still, though, it was a nice gesture that Kyll did, still coming to the stone in the ground and talking about guild related things, but this was the first time Zen had actually caught her in the act. He walked up behind her, no trouble with what he was going to say. What would you say if you came up behind someone that thought you were dead and was scared of ghosts. "Twice!" he said loudly, attempting to startle the woman who was hunched over his grave. "I've escaped death on account of the guild two times! It wasn't easy the both times I did it either. First the squid and then Zeno's devil card, that's something I don't want to go through again" he continued staring at the food that the guild's chef brought for him.

"Thanks for the food, I'm starving" he said casually, picking up the box and chopsticks she'd brought for him. With his mouth half full, he told her "why do you still come here though? As much as I appreciate the gesture, didn't you see the note I left in the guild hall?" he said, a bit confused. His note explained it all, but it seemed like she still genuinely thought he was dead. I wonder if something happened to it. "Also, I'm sorry about the book, and I still can't believe you would hold a grudge to a a dead guy, but that's just not fair. Oh! And happy birthday and all that, I would've come, but I would have felt unwanted and out of place, seeing on the terms of how I left..." he said, a small grin lighting up on his face while he dug into some more of the lunch box."Anyways... what about your problem?" Zen finished soon changing the subject to something less painful to talk about.

"Twice!"

Kyll jumped and almost fell down the hillside facing the guild. The closed eyes magic crawled back up dreading that Zenshin had come back to haunt her guild. When she looked forward, she saw a figure, then she looked closer to see if the source of the voice was Zenshin. Her eyes opened wide revealing the glowing green irises. She stepped back again and tripped over the make shift grave causing her to fall onto her bottom. "It's a ghost... GHOST..." Kyll shouted. "Zenshin, I'm sorry, I'll bring more food next time. I just haven't been able to go hunting. " Kyll sighed. "With Zeno gone, there's no one else who hunts to keep the meat stocked up." Her hair stood up. Then Zenshin began to talk again.

[color=cyan]"I've escaped death on account of the guild two times! It wasn't easy the both times I did it either. First the squid and then Zeno's devil card, that's something I don't want to go through again"

Kyll stood there shocked. She watched Zeno take her food and start to eat. She raised an eyebrow and her eyes closed. "You're not a ghost... phew. Wait... YOU'RE ALIVE?!"

"why do you still come here though? As much as I appreciate the gesture, didn't you see the note I left in the guild hall?"

Kyll sat down and grabbed her box and began to eat since her appetite came back. She had a couple bits of rice in her chop sticks and looked out in the direction she was facing as she sat next to Zenshin. "I come here out of obligation to the spirits. No else pays attention to them here. When a comrade dies, it's tradition to feed them. Otherwist hungry spirits will come to you. Hungry spirits are like relatives. You can't get rid of them and they are the worst kind of poltergeist I know of. As far as your note goes... No... I didn't see it. I didn't even know there was a note.... Nobody tells me anything, well except Mishi and Raziel."

"Also, I'm sorry about the book, and I still can't believe you would hold a grudge to a a dead guy, but that's just not fair. Oh! And happy birthday and all that, I would've come, but I would have felt unwanted and out of place, seeing on the terms of how I left..."

Kyll looked at Zenshin and giggled. "I was kidding particularly. About that book, my mentor sent me a new signed one. Not first edition, but I'll find one again later on. Books can be replaced, not lives and thank you. I totally understand why you couldn't make it. It doesn't excuse our "close" guild." Kyll began to take a bite.

"Anyways... what about your problem?"

Kyll smiled and took a letter out of her obi and handed it to Zenshin. "I may need protection later on as well. My mentor sent this to me. Apparently there's a darker side to my family I had no clue about..."

NOTE:

Dear Kyll,

You're always going to be my favorite student, but I have been hiding this from you for far too long. Your magic never belonged to you. Finding me will only lead to danger beyond what you can do now. Kyll stop trying to find me. You'll only activate your dangerous magic. The magic you were born with is corrupted, and you will not be able to control it. I will not be able to help. On top of that there are mages out there that will look for you when they find out. Please don't wind up like your mother.

I'm sorry.

Einrich Flandre

Kyll sighed as she took another bite of her food. "I don't know what he's talking about. My mother died when I was away. She was killed by a couple of mages, but I have been told that it was for the better of the world. I can't escape that."

Zen was glad that Kyll was just kidding about the book... that thing seemed so valuable and he hadn't even remembered why he'd destroy a book. Oh well he thought while taking the note from Kyll. Immediately, just by looking at it, his brain lit up a few words of importance as it they had gone through a word processor and the meaningful ones were highlighted. The two that stood out most were "Einrich Flandre" at the very bottom, the signature, Kyll's mentor. That name was quite heavy and Zenshin was quite surprised that Kyll's instructor was *this* man. That's when he read the rest of the letter, apparently, Kyll's magic wasn't actually hers. Any man who knew a little bit more than the common knowledge of magic knew that this was a very dangerous thing.

The letter is so cryptic... I'm sure there's more, but maybe he just didn't have time to write any more. He obviously has knowledge about Kyll that she doesn't have. Then again, he warned us not to come to him, as it'll only result in perilous danger. Quite the problem... he thought before opening his mouth to her. "I think we should try to find out everything we can about your mother first. If you aren't bothered by that notion. Since she obviously wasn't the person you were led to believe she was. I've already developed some idea of what the letter means, but it's vague since there wasn't much to go by. I think you're mom was a mage with your kind of magic, not hers, that she couldn't handle and it eventually led your mentor to have her killed, lest she hurt innocent people" he said, completely taking a shot in the dark. "Then again, who knows. Maybe it could be less awful. But from the letter, it's definitely a possibility, I mean, your mentor hides this secret from you for so long and he tells you 'now' out of the blue? He probably thinks he's going to die soon, because this is the kind of letter I would send to someone who I've wronged in an awful way and they didn't even know. Plus, warning you about losing control of your own magic and not to end up like your mother? Another connection. Mister Flandre probably thought he had more time and was waiting to tell you all this, to help you through when he found a way, but it seems like he's out of time now, leaving it up to you to use the information he knows to find a way to stop yourself" he said, speaking directly from his mind.

Oh man, I'm rambling... he thought with a bit of an embarrassed expression on his face. "Don't worry Kyll. I won't let an ex-guild mate lose her sanity, I will help you to save yourself" he said, reassuring her that he would help her out in such a crisis time.

Kyll sat there and listened to Zenshin. Kyll smiled as he began to speak more about her letter. After he finished his thoughts. She put a hand on Zenshin's head then ruffled his hair. Even though her eyes weren't opened she still carried the big sister attitude she showed many people... unless she was drunk. "Look at you... You're not the same teenager I saw serving alcohol to adults." Kyll took her hand off and giggled. "I'm certain he's not dying..." Kyll said thinking about it. She went back to her lunch box and took a bite of the salmon. "About my mother... I was one of the closer children to her before I was delivered to my husband in Era." Kyll began to think back. This was the first time she really discussed anything about her past with anyone. She stopped writing letters to me before I ran away. It was the same pattern... Letters of how she wished I wasn't handed so willingly and how I would make my way out on my own soon. Then they turned into letters that told me to escape from him and the rest of my family. Then finally nothing. A couple days later I ran away. I ran into my mentor who helped me stay hidden in the Spooky Forest, but it was only a matter of time before I made my way to Zeno, one of his friends." Kyll sighed. She flicked the lunch box very quickly. As soon as she brought the lunch box into view there were two peices of cake in it. She tipped her lunch box over Zenshin's and looked at him. She smirked. "I'm not going to give you cake if you're not going to eat it. It's a waste. I reserved it just in case your ghost popped up to beg me for dessert." Kyll popped a peice of the strawberry cake in her mouth and smiled happily.

"My mother taught me the basics of cooking. I was really close to learning my hereditary magic before I was sent away." She put a hand on knee. "For years I had been convinced that my magic was Heavenly Body magic. I thought it came from my father, because my mother was a healer." Kyll thought back to her mother:

A small, six year old Kyll had fallen and scraped her knee. Tears flowed from a pair of large glowing green eyes. She held the bloodied knee in her hands. The little Kyll looked up to see a beautiful woman with black hair that flowed to the floor. The woman knelt down and wiped a tear with one of the sleeves to her kimono. "Mama..."

The woman smiled and put a hand about a foot Kyll's knee. She closed her eyes and her hand began to glow. A pink magic circle with a butterfly appeared in front of her hand then many tiny glowing lights shaped as butterflies flew down to Kyll's knee. In seconds the scrape was gone.

"Holy Butterfly..." Kyll said looking at Zenshin. "What would happen if you corrupt healing butterflies... how can you corrupt magic?"[/color]

I dont even want to know what 'delivered to my husband' means... he thought while quietly listening to her story and brushing his hair back to like it was before Kyll's huge hands ruined it's perfection. "I would love some cake" he said, happily taking the cake from her and scarfing it down as quickly as he possibly could, eager to continue with their interesting conversation. [color=cyan]"Well... in my time alone when all I had were books about magic to read for about ten years, you soon find out that you memorize things if you read them enough times, then you start piecing them together as your knowledge grows. So, how to corrupt magic. Well, you don't Kyll. Imagine it as a heart transplant, the problem isn't with the heart, it's just that the heart didnt belong to the transplant patient and therefore is just not compatible. As for the butterfly, it would make the wound worse, most likely..."

=Flashback=

Zenshin crawled through the snow to finally get back to his safe house, his shelter in the middle of the constant blizzard. The eye of the storm. His clothes were torn, there was a trail of red leading to the door and there were scratches all over his body. He sighed, he was alone, and he wasn't going back home until he was ready to take on the world. Zen covered his wounds in unstable ice as best he could, but he couldn't even muster enough strength to cover all of them, just the more severe ones. At least I got enough blueberries to get me through the week... he thought, thinking of those huge wolves.

It was so cold out here, they adapted to become bigger and fiercer predators than in most other places where wolves roamed, and he was glad they didn't couldn't open doors. It all came back to him... the long day of training to the point of exhaustion, the sudden ambush of all of those wolves, the tearing of his father's flesh, the dark ice... all of it was still fresh in his mind and it would be years before he could bury such an event, maybe it would even haunt him forever.

=Flashback End=

"Or you learn to control the corruption as I had, using it to your advantage while being wise about when to and when not to use it. Put it under control before it puts you under control" he said with a serious tone, lowering his hand to Kyll's face level and sublimating black smoke, from his dark ice. "Hate and rage created what I call dark ice. A form of ice that empowers my spells, but makes me more susceptible to deeds that I would normally find atrocious, so I put it under control as soon as I possibly could, which is why you normally see my ice as clean and clear, and if I can do it, so can you" he said with a smile on his face, even though the images of that day were beginning to resurface again.

Kyll looked at the ice and nodded. "There's a bit more to my story than meets the eye," she said to Zenshin. She put up one finger. "In due time I will have to find him again. This chasing this teacher around in circles is quite annoying. He's always a step ahead of me." Kyll grabbed a stick and then drew a picture on the ground. It looked like a pair of wings only with skeleton bones. "This story connects THESE things to my mentor. When I met him I had encountered one and never heard from him about these things again. In fact he wanted me to never question him about them." Kyll reached into her obi and took out a map of Era marked with an "X" nearest to the center. "The only way to find out what actually happened is to get to my father's journals. He makes notes all the time. I know he's alive, but's my younger sister I'm worried about." Kyll looked at Zenshin. "I'm also worried about Harland and the rest of the Magic Council." She nudged Zenshin. "You see my husband was an emissary for the council. WAS being the word. The WAS was because of me."

The pair of skeleton boned wings were a symbol familiar to him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The pieces were there, they just weren't clicking together to show him the big picture, which annoyed him. She still wants to chase after him even though he explicitly warned her that it would do nothing except put her in danger. Though looking for the journals seemed like a good way to keep her mind off of Flandre. That's a great idea... I should start making notes of everything. It'll help organize my thoughts and keep a record for generations to come "What are we still doing here then! Ice make, dragon!" he yelled, causing a cold fog a large magic circle to appear under them. Withing a minute, a dragon of ice 'crawled' out of the circle and awaited orders. It roared, causing an echo throughout the mountains while Zen smiled at his craftmanship. He carefully climbed up and offered a hand to Kyll, "Kyll, meet sublime"

[Exit Thread]

Kyll opened her eyes to see the dragon in all of its beauty and majesty. She smiled and put a hand on the dragon. Her eyes went back to their closed nature as she greeted the ice dragon. It wasn't alive, but to her it was because it held all of the quirks that Zenshin had. Her hand didn't feel as cold as she thought. Though she could sense the warmth that Zenshin regarded towards Kyll recently. "It's a pleasure to meet you Sublime. I'm Kyll. I hope you ride just as graceful as you look." She looked back up to Zenshin and took his hand. "We're going to need some help. Perhaps some more people from your guild. Team Dragonic Storm has been MIA for quite some time." Kyll sighed. She made her way up the dragon and looked down at the gravesite. "You won't be needing this any more." She held her hand up and sent a beam of cosmic light straight at the grave destroying it. "Let's go."

[Exit Thread]