Azure Chapter 8

[lilly0]

Title: Azure  (Sequel to my Destiny One-shot)  Chapter 8 (of 19): A matter of family
Pairing: TakkiRyo, Pin, Sakumoto, Kimura/OC
Multi-chapter
Rating:  PG-13
Genre: AU, angst, romance, fantasy
Disclaimer: I don't own them or anything else JE-related, but the story is mine of course^^
Summary: It's a dark night when Yamapi meets him: Jin, a mysterious guy lying on the street, unconscious. But who is this guy he carries home? What is he? What's the secret behind his being? After one night he is gone...and Yamapi is left alone with all his questions. Born as a Hunter, Pi shouldn't question his life... but he can't help it. He has always been different... He takes the risk and leaves for a journey which might not have an end.
Meanwhile Jin struggles for his own destiny... together with his brother Ryo and his friend Jun. But how far are they allowed to go? Trying to pass the borders of their existence they try to find the truth... and their fate.
Can you decide on your own destiny?
NOTE: For everyone who hasn't read the Prequel (requested by agustin1982 ), you'll find it HERE



 
 
“Is it really okay?” Yamapi asked. “Don't you want to use it Kimura-kun?”
 
Kimura smiled. “You heard the professor yesterday, I need to use it at the right time... I will tell you when, alright?”
 
Yamapi nodded his head, then he grinned towards Mika. “So we have to try not to get too much on his nerves? Otherwise the right moment won’t ever come…”
 
“Yep.” she giggled. “It will be difficult for us.”
 
“Nonsense.” Kimura mumbled. “You are not going on my nerves.”
 
“And if we chat when you want to sleep?”
 
“What if we sing cheerful songs all day long?”
 
“What if we want to stay up until late at night and tell each other scary stories?”
 
“Okay... I got it.” Kimura interrupted them, sighing a bit. “Then don't try to get on my nerves.”
 
Mika tilted her head, smiling brightly and wondering if she should push the joke further, but then something else caught her mind. “The letter.” she said out of a sudden.
 
Yamapi and Kimura paused immediately. “You are right.” Kimura mumbled. “We passed the town and are far away in the mountains, like he told us. Now we can read it.”
 
“Read it out aloud please.” Mika begged, shivering in expectance when Kimura opened the letter with his long and slender fingers.  He nodded his head, smiling at her warmly. “I will...” With that he read it out loud, the whole truth that was lying in front of them.
 
 
To my dear Takuya, who was like a son for me...
 
To lovely Mika, who showed me that there are no differences between our races, that only the person itself counts.
 
To my new-found friend Tomohisa, who taught me that even a young Hunter can see behind the mirror and grasp the meanings of this world.
 
 
You might have guessed it when you read these first lines, Takuya, because you know me the best. But this is a letter of good-bye. When you read it you will be in the middle of the mountains, searching your way to the far-away sea. When you read it, I'll be dead.
 
Don't go back to look for me. There is a reason I sent you away. Don't let my death be reasonless...
 
 
Why? You ask. Why will he die? I know it, because I'll give away a precious secret here. I've lived a long and good life, I've had it all: love, family, friends. Now I want to give you something to help you to save, not this world, because the world doesn't need to be saved, but yourself. Our race.
 
The necklace you are carrying around is indeed powerful. But not only that it's also one of the best-kept secret, also within the Vampires there are just a very few who know its meaning.
 
What does it mean that the secret King of the Vampires, the Emperor, hands over this necklace to a Hunter?
 
Why would he do such a thing? What is the meaning behind this? I can't answer you these questions, but I do know some things. Just let me tell you from the beginning on that I can only give you small hints, I don’t know more myself. I’m just scratching at the surface, but knowing some facts might at least help you to understand:
 
The necklace belongs to the Emperor's family, the father passes it to his first-born child, no matter which gender, that will inherit him by law of nature. With the awakening of the new Emperor, also his feelings awaken... not the normal feeling every being has, but much more. All the feelings that got carried around by his race through all these thousands years.
 
This was how the secret war was stopped. One man who loved this world too much, who loved their races sacrificed himself and his whole family. Not by killing them, but by making the necklace. It collected it all... all the bad feelings, the darkness, the hatred... It's a charm that pushed all that away. At least for a moment.
 
You know, Tomohisa, the things that the necklace helped you to achieve – remember them. Now imagine you would be one of the strongest existing Vampires... how much would you be able to do! How strong would you be? How good? The Emperor collected all these bad feelings... putting them into himself and making this necklace to save him from letting these feelings go.
 
You already understand, right?
 
The feelings he carries inside him... are all the hatred and darkness around him, inherited from thousands of years. The necklace helps him to overcome this, until a certain point of his life. Then his mind won’t be able to bear it anymore and he will either die or kill someone...
 
Why should he die? Whom will he kill?
 
Well...also this I can tell you: The Emperor's wife was a bright woman, soft in her being, thoughtful and concerned. She was able to look deeper into things than the others, she was able to accept the emotions and beings around her, she was able to lead them without forcing them to feel or do something. She looked over the edge of the world. It was a gift...
 
Hence she was against the necklace. She already knew it that it was a curse... that catching all the bad emotions wouldn't help anyone, it wouldn't solve anything. The Empress had two sons, she knew that the curse would be inherited to them. So she decided to die, to give them a chance to survive. Her death tightened the bond between the brothers, making them so close that she hoped they would be able to fight the darkness in their lives.
 
It didn't change everything and it’s not known what exactly she achieved, what it was she changed, it was her secret and she took it with her to death. But her actions at least give us a clue.
 
In every next generation of the Emperor, there will be born two sons. The older one will be the strong one, with the powerful will, with the strong mind, with the sense of justice, with the love of the world. The younger one will be the one with the awakened mind, with the secret sight on things no one else might understand.
 
There will be a special bond between them... something only the two of them can cut. And this is where the curse starts. The one brother can't be without the other... but he also can't be with the other. The necklace protects them from destroying themselves, but at one point it can't help them anymore: The older brother will kill the brother... or die himself. I don’t know why it happens like that, why it comes that far, but it might be the reason why the Empress decided to die to tighten the brothers’ bond. They need to love and understand each other to be able to fight the darkness, when it starts breaking down on them.
 
Maybe the new Emperor knows all that...maybe he knows that he will be the one who kills his brother...or kill himself. Maybe that was the reason Tomohisa found him. He wanted to die before he would kill his precious.
 
This is the reason why the necklace is a curse. And a gift. The Empress turned it into a gift – but unfortunately we don’t know what exactly she did. Her secret has to be a huge one. If you find out the truth, you’ll be able to save this family!
 
Apparently the necklace is not only their downfall. It's also the key to their freedom. They just have to use it wisely. The key is to find out how to use it, its real purpose. Maybe the recent Emperor knew that and grasped the one chance he had. He gave it to a man of the race he should have hated the most. A Hunter. Maybe he wanted someone to save him... maybe he wanted someone to fight him... but most likely he wanted someone to fight the necklace... and his ancestors. Maybe he saw something in you that no one else knows.
 
He decided to accept the fact that all these feelings are inside him... and that he has to fight them on his own. Because in the end the necklace doesn't help him a bit. It's rather a burden. But learning to live on his own, feeling his own feelings, making his own decision.... this might save him. What he did was not stupid...it was brave. The world has to live on its own without the necklace... and actually I think that's a good thing. Why should someone take away all our bad feelings? They are part of us... and we have to learn to deal with them! He hopes that when he learns how to fight these feelings, he will also draw back from killing his brother. He wants to get his mind and his emotions under control. It will be the first time since generations that a successor to the thrown decided to fight this fight against his own self.
 
You know how it's said: It's not that difficult to fight our enemies, than to fight ourselves.
 
The Empress who sacrificed herself might have known that... about the chance to learn to feel again. And she hoped that one day one of her grand-grand-grand-grand-grand children would try it.
 
With her death she had changed the necklace’ meaning, she had changed her successors’ fate.
She gave them a chance.
 
 
This here is the basic knowledge I can give you. Knowing all that I have lived all the time...not able to tell someone. Because it's also a curse for me. My life is bound to the secret... when I give it away, I will die.
 
So, may it happen. But when the Vampire's leader can show so much courage to live his life on his own, I can do so too.
 
 
There is one more thing.
 
Mika-chan asked me during our last talk: The wrong existence of us Hunter, what do I mean with that?
 
 
Do you know that we aren't here by nature? That someone made us? There was a spark that awakened in a few Human Beings...that turned them into Hunter, into Protectors. Their purpose wasn't supposed to hunt, but to protect. Isn't that a beautiful meaning of our being? Sadly many of us forgot that... but there are still some who inherited the spark. You two are two of them...
 
 
Do you know whose spark it was that made us be born? Whose army we were? Whom we are supposed to  protect? What is our meaning?
 
I won't tell you... because I believe that by now you know it yourselves... or at least, you will find the answers.
 
 
Use the necklace like I told you to, Takuya. You will need to find its owner.
 
You need to help him to succeed his emotions...without a charm or a curse. There is a balance in this world and we all carry it inside us. So does he. And his brother. They just have to feel this balance...
 
 
I don’t know how to use the necklace correctly, I don’t know the real secret behind it. Only the Empress knew. But she made it to save her family, so there has to be a way to find the truth.
 
Don’t give up, my loves!
 
I'm glad I was able to have the three of you as an important station in my life. I wish for you to live the happiest, possible life.
 
I wished I would be able to see your child, Takuya. But unfortunately this wish won’t be granted for me. But I’ll try to watch out for you from the other world.
 
Find your faith to be able to protect yourself and those you love.
 
Good-bye.
 
 
 
******
 
“Who is this you are painting?” Jin sat down next to his brother and Jun on the balcony, watching how Ryo was drawing two persons. A woman and a man.
 
There was a thoughtful expression on Ryo's face now as he took a closer look at the picture himself. “I don't know...” Ryo mumbled.
 
“Eh...” Jun blinked in surprise. “You don't?”
 
Ryo shrugged. “Is it that  important?”
 
Jin knitted his eyebrows in confusion. “Shouldn't you know the persons you are painting? Doesn't it worry you that you paint something you don't even know?”
 
Ryo frowned a bit, inspecting the picture in front of me. “No.”
 
“No what?” Jun asked, trying to hide the slight interest and amusement in his voice. “You don't need to know the persons you are painting? Or you don't worry that you are drawing someone you don't know?”
 
There was a silent smile on Ryo's lips. “Both. Why should I know what I draw...? It is here anyway.”
 
Jun rubbed over his head. “This doesn't make sense...”
 
“It doesn't?” Ryo blinked in confusion. “It's something inside me...”
 
Jin's eyes widened at that. “What do you mean?”
 
“Maybe they are people that are connected to me though I don't know them. Or they are a spark inside me...”
 
Jin knitted his eyes at that answer. He didn't know what the other meant... but he strangely understood him. He stepped a bit closer to take a look at the picture. A woman and a man... in their middle age. Clearly Vampires. Jin's eyes widened in surprise when he saw what Ryo had put around the man's neck. A necklace...with a deep blue stone. Jin shook his head in confusion. This was his necklace...
 
Jin inspected the couple's expressions closer. The man had a friendly, but fierce expression. The woman was looking absent-minded, soft... and stubborn. Something of her reminded him of Ryo...
 
Who the heck were these two?
 
 
 
******
Note: Hey dear friends and readers! Thanks so much for all your support!! So, I wanted to tell you that my Request Post is open. If you feel like requesting a specific pairing or situation you can do so HERE