Chapter 44 - Separated

Iris

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Unwillingly, Valkyre felt himself being dredged up from the murky darkness, where the world was muffled, silenced, empty, devoid of feelings, of warmth or cold, of anything and everything.
And swirling with dreams. Candles and dripping and shadows and wings...
But he was returning to his body, dragged away from the soft black oblivion he so wanted to sink into.
Valkyre felt the ground pressed beneath his cheek, his shoulder, his leg. He blinked open his eyes, slowly.
Darkness all around, little pale slats and diamonds signifying loose papers scattered about the ground, wooden splintered pieces of tables lying in haphazard, jagged piles. The black blurred, merged, then pulled itself back into focus before his eyes. A blotch of pale white became a hand.
Valkyre blinked once, twice. The hand moved, dropped to the ground, palm pressed on the cold black ground, long thin fingers curling up, knuckles forming bony ridges.
Raguel leaned down, head tipped slightly to one side.
"...How are you feeling?"
The half-breed now sported a blue-purpling bruise under his left eye along with a dried smudge of blood from cracked lips. There was a powdering of dust in his hair, off-setting the inky black, and the fabric of his dark shirt was ripped at a shoulder.
Valkyre blinked, trying to register what he was seeing. Carefully, slowly, he tried craning his head. He was on alert, afraid of suddenly being overwhelmed by some burning fire, some slamming, thrumming force that'd rip his aching body to pieces and scatter it along the ground.
There was nothing. His ribs hurt, his arm hurt, his head hurt, but... it wasn't the same kind of pain. This was aching, dulled pain after the initial wounds, damage that his body was already pooling its strength into to fix, to heal.
Valkyre paused, then tried to move his arm, slowly, cautiously, curling up his fingers first, wincing as he felt the small shards of glass still dug into his flesh, eventually pulling around his arm, leaning on an arm that throbbed and burned at the effort as he tried to prop himself up against it.
His head ached terribly, a repeated, resounding thrum that felt like something alive was pounding against the inside of his skull, screaming to be let out.
The angel managed to half-raise his body, crouching on the ground, hands trembling, palms flat out against the floor, his breathing ragged and fast, the air slicing through his lungs, his throat.
"Wh... What..."
Valkyre swallowed dryly, glancing around. Everything was in ruins, the ground sprinkled with glass, dark silhouettes shaping themselves out as bookcases and broken computer monitor screens. It was dark, empty, silent.
And yet...
The angel paused, then looked back down at himself. His hands, smeared with dried, flaking brown-black blood, were cast in a soft, gray-blue light. A piece of paper pressed underneath his palm ran more meaningless rows of characters and numbers, leaking clotted, dried blood.
Valkyre stared down at the tiny raised bumps of the letters, all clearly visible, but with no meaning...
The angel blinked, then raised his head.
Above him, through the rip in the ceiling, edged in a jagged, rough circle of ceiling plaster and brick, the gray-black sky was glinting with cold, distant tiny stars, like a reflection of the shattered glass littering the floor. Thick steel-gray clouds blotted out areas, drifting slowly past.
It'd been a long time since he'd seen the stars. They rarely showed, through all the smog and the lights of the cities... and through this hole, this hole to the sky...
"I...Iris!"
Valkyre's voice was rough, throat cracked. He stumbled, trying to push himself up onto his feet, almost crying out as he felt his legs buckle underneath him, his brain screaming, throbbing painfully.
The angel felt himself fall, then suddenly halt. Cool hands pressed against his shoulders, supporting him up. He glanced down, staring at the dark glowing red and pale yellow eyes through the inky bangs.
"Valkyre. Calm down." Raguel's voice was low, hushed. His face was placid, expressionless. "You shouldn't try to move yet"-
"Iris!" Valkyre grabbed the other by the shoulder, pushing away the pain, shaking the half-breed. "Where is he?? Why didn't you go after him??"
Raguel only stared back impassively, face devoid of emotion. The long, thin white fingers on the angel's shoulder tightened.
"Stop it, Valkyre. You know I wouldn't have gone after him and left you here. Calm down."
The angel flinched, jaw clenched. A moment of tense silence held them, facing each other down, then eventually, finally, Valkyre gave in and pushed himself away, easing himself gently to the ground. His body still ached, but he was healing, slowly, tediously.
How pointless.
The angel glanced over at Raguel, who'd settled himself down next to him, arms crossed over his chest, gazing out at nothing through his dark, inky bangs.
Feeling Valkyre's eyes on him, the half-breed glanced over, pale yellow gaze flashing, catching the dim reflection of the silvery moonlight.
"You need to rest first. Don't worry about Iris." Raguel looked away again, staring up through the hole in the ceiling.
"...He'll be all right. After all, those two don't really have anywhere to go."
Valkyre paused, licking dry, split lips. He frowned, staring down at his ripped, sticky hands.
"...Eire had mentioned something about home. What was that?? I thought this lab was where..."
Raguel gave a sharp, curt shake of his head. "No. This isn't the only lab. Iris stayed here for a duration, so I'd suspected that they might have had the information." The eyes turned dark, overcast. "...I shouldn't have come here, without knowing for sure..."
Valkyre exhaled sharply. "...This isn't the only lab, then? Where are the others? That's where those two will go, right? And they'll take Iris there??"
Raguel sighed, expression clearing slightly. "...Yes," he replied at length, as if reluctant to answer. "They'll be... I think I know which compound they'll be at."
The half-breed's gaze shifted sharply, holding Valkyre's violet. "But don't attempt anything stupid. Wait. They can't really do anything once they're there, given no programming. You need to heal."
Valkyre scowled, distinctly feeling like he was being treated like an immature youth. "...I heal fast. I'll be fine. We still need to hurry."
Raguel sighed, still shaking his head, the faintest hint of something like a smile on his lips.
"Don't be so hasty. It'd be best to work out a plan first."
The angel leaned his head back, staring up at the broken edge of ceiling tile, black against a lighted, soft blue-black sky. Not often the heavens looked so lovely. His head throbbed with the movement, and the angel momentarily found himself overcome with dizziness, feeling like the world was spinning beneath his body, for just an instant, before it all settled and righted itself.
Valkyre scowled, pressing his hand against his forehead, rubbing at his temples. Somewhere, at the back of his head, a bruise was throbbing.
"...I'm sorry."
The angel glanced over, eyebrows raised. "...What?"
"For allowing you to get so hurt. I never knew that Eire..."
Valkyre laughed, short, harsh. "Yeah, well, neither did I," he was muttering, eyes cast down. "...Last time we fought, she never showed that sort of energy... It was..."
Raguel turned, looked away.
"...You're right," he said. Valkyre looked up, curiously.
The half-breed frowned, glancing down at the paper-littered floor. "...It's not... what I'd expected at all. But I think I have a reason as to why.
"Eire always did have power, I know that. But her build was never meant to release all of it, at least, I hadn't thought so. I think that, instead, she found a way to give up much of her energy to Rheis, through their... connection. And, after you broke that link... Eire's energy was all her own, and I think that... somehow, she managed to harness and control it.
Raguel paused, looked back at the angel, shadows cast over his eyes by the mussed, dark hair.
"Didn't you notice a lack of coordination? Those two can't communicate as well anymore. And when I was fighting Rheis... when Eire broke through the roof, he didn't even notice until she'd already vanished outside. I don't think they're connected very well at all anymore."
Valkyre nodded slowly, digesting the information. It was a good assumption, and fit the facts.
They fell into silence, each busy with their own thoughts.
The angel leaned his head back cautiously, gently, wincing with the effort. Up above, a swirl of ugly gray clouds were smearing the sky. ...Could he remember which way Eire had gone?? ...No, no memory, everything had just faded away to black...
Valkyre let his gaze drop. He closed his eyes, sighing. Raguel was right; he had to think things through first, instead of attempting any irrational acts. If everything was as Raguel had said...
The angel winked open an eye, glancing briefly over at the half-breed. Dark and silent, brooding. Even though Valkyre himself was rather like that, he didn't trust others who acted that way. They were never the kind to directly express their motives, and you never could know what they would do, or what they were thinking.
Raguel... what exactly did he want with Iris?
...With himself, Valkyre?
The angel closed his eyes again. Raguel had mentioned... staying with him rather than going after Iris. Valkyre blinked, opening his eyes again.
Why? Why him? What was there to protect?
Valkyre frowned, trying to think through the throbbing headache. Raguel only wanted Iris to revitalize the world... whether or not that was truly possible... right?
...What did he, the bewildered ex-bounty hunter, have to do with the whole matter??
Valkyre turned his head to observe the half-breed. What could he be thinking...?
"...Raguel."
The other looked over, not seeming startled in the least. "Yes?"
"...I know what you did to Asher and the other hunters."
Valkyre paused, wondering if he'd phrased it right. Perhaps it wouldn't be best to tell him that Asher was still alive.
The half-breed blinked, twice.
"...And, Valkyre?"
"Why did you do it?"
Raguel closed his eyes briefly, nodding.
"Ah. Then you've met the vampire, I suppose."
Valkyre flinched, invisibly. "...You knew he wasn't dead? Why did you let him live, then??"
The other's face remained impassive.
"Did you know what kind of relationship he was holding with the werewolf?" He countered, shaking his head.
"Yes, I knew."
It was the half-breed's turn to look over now, questioning. Raguel bore down on the other's violet gaze, own eyes cool and hollow.
"What they wanted could never have worked. It never should have. Only you"-
He cut off, frowning, looking away. When he began again, his gaze was averted, defensive.
"I... I had to feed, anyways. And it's not exactly as if I got out unscathed; that vampire left me a deep scar on my shoulder in retribution that won't fade with time."
Valkyre stared back blankly. Of course, even if you were only half-vampire, you still had to feed... and it did make a little sense now, but... still...
Well, for one thing, he could understand Asher's hatred quite well now. And yet Raguel...
Valkyre sighed, looking away. He didn't need visual proof of any scar to know that Raguel could back up his explanation. The angel was tired of these mind games, whether just fabricated by his own defensive instinct or real.
Valkyre paused, then faced the other again.
"Raguel."
The other nodded lightly in response. The pale yellow and the dark, ruby red gazed back at him, revealing nothing, hidden behind the black bangs.
"What is Iris for?"
Raguel merely smiled.
"That depends. What do you think, Valkyre?"

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AN: Jesus, this chapter took so long. And I'm so sorry, but Junior year is just oh-so hard.
...That's a lot of 'so's up there, so I'll stop with that.
Anyway. I seem to suck at conversations, and it sorely shows. For some reason, I find that one poor little excuse for Raguel's killing of the other hunters funny.
'And, well... I was hungry.' Is basically what it translates to, heh.
So, anyways. Trying trying to get some more work done, so please bear with me. Can you guys believe it? Almost a 1-year anniversary for Iris! One whole year, working on this one story!!
...Man, I'm slow. XO I'm so sorry!
Oh, and there will be a few small glitches in the story that I can't quite fix now, so I'm just trying my best to cover them up. Someday, when I finish this, I'll go back and revise it a lot. But, well, for now, this is the best I can do! Sorry!
Ta everybody, and see ya later~

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