#Hikaze | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

forebodingprophet · 4 months ago

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Moirai || Clotho C5P2

The sight of Hikaze’s street was only slightly more comfortable to look at after a day had passed. There was still an obvious lack of Ultrareality, but the Sight of dozens of people traversing the Time of the street at least made it tolerable. Anastasios almost scoffed. Esaias would have given anything to not have to See, but here he was, comforted by the fact that he could. The smells of breakfast still wafted out of windows, and Anastasios could hear through open shutters the sound of wives hurrying their husbands to work. It was like nothing had happened, but he felt like a bomb had gone off. He kept looking around, trying to find some clue, only to come back with nothing. Were the insides of houses the only places unaffected? Xander growled and scuffled along behind him, clearly displeased by how much Anastasios had slowed down, but the boy was too preoccupied to care. He was so focused on trying to find anything he’d missed the day prior that he didn’t even notice that a door had opened in front of him until the man coming out nearly barreled into him.

“Woah! Kid, you have to look where you’re going!” the man scolded, but his frustrated demeanor quickly changed when he saw who he’d nearly hit. Anastasios didn’t know the man, but he could tell the man recognized his familiar traits. And then, when he clocked Celia beside him, he went visibly pale. “I mean… My apologies, young man. I’ll be more careful in the future,” he tittered.

“No, you’re right, I should be more careful,” Anastasios replied. Instinctively flinching at how the man had tried to suck up to him.

“No no no, it’s completely my fault. I can’t imagine how awful I’d feel if I hurt you or the young lady there,” he said with a nervous laugh as he tried to gauge Celia from her place on Anastasios’ arm.

“Well, since you were so clearly in the wrong here,” Celia began, ignoring Anastasios’ attempts to shush her, “perhaps you can tell us about yesterday morning.”

“Yesterday morning?” the man asked, scratching his head. “Nothing to bore anyone from House Ofthalmós with, I’m sure. Petty regular morning.”

“And who are you to say we’d be bored by it?” Celia asked.

“It’s fine,” Anastasios hissed. “We’re in a rush anyways.” He could already hear the fox tapping his foot in impatience.

“There's really nothin’ to talk about,” the man replied. Anastasios didn't See a lie either.

“… If it’s nothing, then I’m sorry to have bothered you,” Anastasios replied, moving to walk around him when the man stopped him again.

“I mean, I think I remember some kinda commotion, but it couldn’t have been much if I don't remember it,” he said. “Oh! And I woke up on the floor all dressed and ready. Must've fallen back asleep, although the floor was a pretty strange place to be sleeping. Ended up late to work that day. Boss man wasn’t very pleased with me, but a few of the other guys were also the same kinda late, and we needed to get stuff done so he didn't get into it with us.”

“Did they wake up on their floors or oversleep too?” Anastasios asked.

“Can’t say for sure,” the man replied. But Anastasios could see the gears turning in his head. He clearly hasn't thought much of the incident before, but putting it into words was making it more real, making him question the whole thing. Almost like he'd been made to believe that walking up on his floor was a perfectly normal way to oversleep.

“I see… Perhaps there’s a cognition component to whatever it is as well,” Anastasios muttered to himself. Either two different methods had been used to wipe both the street and the people or whatever this as not only messed with Ultrareality but could also manipulate the perception and memories of anyone nearby. He suppressed the shiver that tried to run up his spine. If this was indeed the case, whatever was involved was not only incredibly powerful but also incredibly dangerous. “Celia, it may be good that you came with me.

Celia smiled, her mouth growing unnaturally wide for the size of her small face. “I knew you'd understand, my adorable little pet,” she said happily.

“Is there a problem?” the man asked, clearly a little perturbed.

“It’s nothing, much appreciated.” Anastasios took a silver coin out of his satchel and put it in the man’s hand. “If you remember anything else, please report it to the family.”

The man stared in disbelief at the silver coin. And why wouldn't he? That was probably a much as he made in at least a week. “O-O-O-Of course! The House has always been good to us!” he exclaimed.

“A good relationship benefits us as well,” Anastasios pointed out. “We appreciate your time.” Anastasios gave a curt goodbye and lead them all away.

“See?” Celia asked, still hanging off his arm. “A little traditional information gathering can be helpful.”

“I’m not going to disagree, but I am in a hurry today,” Anastasios reminded her. “I don't have the same luxury I did with investigating Calypso’s disappearance where I could afford to question anyone I saw on the street.” He had to keep as wide a gap as he could between himself and any pursuing members of his family. Right now, his biggest boon was that he was the only person who knew the location of Hikaze's house. It would take them at least an extra hour of asking around to find it, and if Anastasios was lucky, he could finish his own investigation by then. “And you, fox,” he said, not showing his pace to turn around and address the 3rd member of their party properly, “did any of that sound familiar to you?”

“Why would it?” the ‘boy’ growled.

“Whoever put you in Calypso’ flat is probably also whoever did this,” Anastasios replied, turning and snarling at the fox boy. “And these people have taken two members of my family now. I swear to Arceus, if you know anything that you aren't telling me-!”

The fox boy met his hostility. “Don’t know!” he growled in Anatsasios’ face.

“For your sake, that'd better be true,” Anastasios earned him before returning to his single-minded tell to Hikaze's house, leaving the fox to stew in anger behind him.

The house was the same as it was the day prior. Nothing had changed save for the slowly returning Ultrareality. The street outside was only mildly better since it had more opportunity for creatures to scuttle around on it. The most Anastasios could make it were the paths of bugs and maybe a mouse. Not a single human had stepped in here since he had yesterday. His own path stared back at him, taunting him.

“You, fox,” Anastasios said, not turning to address him directly as his eyes wandered to the upturned corner of a rug.

“What?!” he snapped, staring to lose what little patience he had for the human boy.

“Keep watch with Fotíalos,” Anastasios replied, his tone quiet but heavy as he reached for Fotíalos’ Pokéball. The small flame soldier gave an eager cry as he stretched before staring to take in the room. “Fotíalos.” His trainer’s tone made him pause. Something about it felt disconnected and cold. “You'll be keeping watch with the fox. If a member of the family comes, don't touch them. Just come wake me up or stall them. If someone else comes through either door… avoid lethal force if it can be helped, but your safety comes first. Celia, wake me up in 90 minutes. 2 hours of it looks like I'm still in REM.”

Celia wrinkled her nose. “You know how much I dislike the ‘dreams’ you people have.”

“But you’re the only one here who can peek into dreams to see if I'm even in REM. Again, two hours. And then I'll be moving on to the next spot.” Anastasios started down at the hatch in the floor, hand trembling. He almost didn't want to See what was down there, but he had to. He raised the hatch and crawled down, closing it behind him and curling up on the dirt floor. One of the strange shapes specific to his vision fixated him- those drops of blood that weren't of his kin but spoke to being worryingly fresh. “Please… let me be wrong.” He closed his eyes and sleep overtook him.

The fox boy took a seat on the ground and started tapping a clawed finger against the wood. This was all so ridiculous. If it wasn’t for her then he never would have gone along with this. How long had it been since he’d been in charge of his own life? Too long. He couldn’t even remember. It’d made him end up like this in the first place. And now here he was, being forced to do someone’s bidding again.

“Cease your tapping,” the girl told him. He didn’t know what she was or why she’d come along, but he at least knew she wasn’t human.

“Why?” he snarled.

“My Stasi is working. Making so much noise might wake him.”

The fox scoffed. Working. Yeah. Sure. Doing what? Sitting in a pit? Sounded like a lot of hard work. He snarled as the little flame soldier the human boy had released to stand guard wandered over to the trap door his trainer had gone into and peered down at the wood as if it might open.

“Oh, that’s right, you’ve never seen your master work before, have you?” the girl said with a dark smile, plucking up the Charcadet with nary a care for the weight the creature should have been. “My Esaias’ children are special: they’re like us Pokémon- they have abilities too, unlike most humans. Their eyes grant them the ability to see everything: past, present, and, to a degree, even the future. It’s like Arceus himself looking at us. Certain conditions have to be met though if they want specific information. That’s why my Stasi came all the way here… and why you’ve been granted a chance,” she added, addressing the fox in a cold tone that didn’t match her childish appearance. “I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with Balia, but even I won’t just let some mutt near one of my oldest friends. Consider yourself lucky I even let you near my Stasi.” Aria could protect herself, sure, but that didn’t make bringing just anyone who wanted to meet her before her, particularly if they’d been hostile up until this point, something a friend would do.

The fox started growling at her. He didn’t even want to be here with this brat! If she’d just tell him where the portrait lady was, then he’d leave! The foxed snapped his jaw at her, the sound of teeth gnashing echoing through the room. But the action only made the condescending child smile.

“This is precisely why you can’t be brought before her,” she said. “And until you learn to control that temper, that permission won’t be earned.”

The fox clenched his hands into fists, claws scraping at the wooden floor. The boiling rage in his chest wanted nothing more than to close his jaws around her throat, but something inside of him shook in fear at the concept. He didn’t know what she was, but he knew if he tried, then he’d be the one getting devoured. So he gritted his teeth, held his tongue, and tried to point his thoughts towards his few lingering memories of her. That was a goal he could work towards.

Ninety minutes passed, then two hours, then three, and only then did Celia melt into the shadows between the cracks and dive into Anastasios’ “dream”. She always hated doing this. As much as she loved Esaias’ children, their dreams weren’t true dreams, just vestiges of reality. While her favorite meal was the suffering found in nightmares, the suffering found in an Ofthalmós vision tasted to her like a succulent steak that had long since gone to rot. She sighed as she approached her “pet”.

“I gave you some extra time because I knew you’d need it,” she said, walking up to the stilted scene in front of them. Only in the world of dreams did her eyes still work. She was somewhat used to the sight of what the Seers of House Ofthalmós were generally exposed to, but this one felt different, incomplete, vague. “What’s wrong with it?”

“I don’t know,” Anastasios replied, frustrated. Each time I watch, I get more pieces, but it’s like a film reel that’s been spliced lengthwise- I only get parts each time, and it’s hard to piece everything together this way.” Because of the severity of the situation, Celia decided to be magnanimous and not point out the technology that “Anastasios” should have no experience with. “What’s even stranger is that I’ve gotten the same scene this whole time, just with different pieces. It’s always been ‘one and done’. If I didn’t catch something, then that was it. Too bad.” There was a sudden movement in front of them, like a leg kicking out, and then a loud cry that suddenly snapped out, incomplete. “Celia… I think… whatever they did can also erase temporal imprints…” Celia narrowed her eyes. That was a very serious accusation. It’d have been one thing to have a Psychic-type on hand that could alter memories, but one that could alter Ultrareality was something else entirely. And now it could possibly even erase temporal imprints? Whatever this Pokémon was, it had to be at least as powerful as she was, which was no small feat. “I have at least been able to tell that whatever I’m watching happened in the room and the street above, so my hope is just that it only affects the temporal imprint on the place where it happened. The one upstairs wasn’t as thorough as the wipe on Calypso’s place, which is why I’m probably still able to make out bits and pieces. However, that’s a major concern for our information gathering network.”

“Indeed. If something were to happen to you, even the Class 10s in the house wouldn’t be able to track you down if they kept you with whatever’s doing this.” She couldn’t be more relieved that she’d come along. At this rate, he was bound to end up like Esaias: captured, sealed, and then nearly killed. It’d been quite literally an act of Mew that she’d even gotten him back. She refused to let the same thing happen to Anastasios. “Regardless, I think you’ll have trouble gleaning anything else from here. It’s time for you to wake up and try somewhere else.”

“Agreed, wake me up, would you?”

Celia sighed before exiting the dream and dragging her body out of the shadows. Even if her human eyes had worked, that still wouldn’t have saved her from the frustration of fumbling around in the dark for Anastasios’ face, but once her palms found it, they moved down to his shoulders and shook until she finally got a very tired groan. It was the kind of sound that, if he hadn’t just asked her to wake him up, then she would have covered her head in the expectation of tempered violence. Although Anastasios was generally reasonable, he was currently operating on no more than three hours of sleep in a 48 hour period. “Come on, sleepyhead, wasn’t there somewhere else you wanted to drop?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he growled, sounding surprisingly like a normal teenager.

◊

“Get up!”

Théo groaned as he roused to the sound of barking. He felt sore and heavy, but, more than that, it felt like his left shoulder was pinned down. It took him a moment to realize that Hikaze was sleeping on it. Right, he’d let the kid use him as a pillow.

“If you ain’t up, I’m just gonna take you for dead,” the voice barked.

Théo groaned. He didn’t understand what was going on, but he knew he had to rouse Hikaze. He shook the boy’s shoulder a few times to no avail, and a bolt of panic jolted through Théo’s chest. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. Eventually, though, the sound of discontented teenager reached Théo’s ears, and he let out a sigh of relief as he propped them both up, Hikaze still half asleep.

“We’re awake, you can stop shouting,” Théo said as he coldly looked at their captor behind the bars.

“I’ll shout as much as I damn well please” he yelled with a mocking smile. Théo rolled his eyes. This man was a child.

“Well, to what do we owe the honor?” Théo asked, voice dripping sarcasm.

“Well, women-folk can’t be trusted to not take pity on a kid and let you out. That bastard also doesn’t seem to like my decision, so I don’t want him anywhere near this cell.” Putting the misogynism aside, it seemed like maybe ‘Minoru’ wasn’t as happy to play along with this psycho’s game as Théo thought. “So you get the great fortune of having me bring you your breakfast.” He lifted the grate and haphazardly slid the bowls under, spilling a bit of the contents. “Come an’ get it.” The smile he gave Théo made the man shudder. The fact that he didn’t leave or even back away from the bars also told him that the man had something else in mind. Hikaze, who was still quite groggy, began to crawl forward towards a bowl to grab it, but Théo grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back. Raoul frowned and clicked his tongue. “What’re you waitin’ on? Hurry up or I’ll just take it back,” he spat. As much as Théo didn’t want to, he inched forward across the stone floor. He and Hikaze needed to eat, regardless of whatever was going on. Théo grabbed the nearest of the two bowls and sent it behind him to Hikaze. He had to crawl a bit further to reach the other, and just when his fingers were almost on the edge, a strong, thick hand reached down to grab at his wrist and pulled him into the bars, banging his head against the metal. His wrist was quickly released, but the pain lingered along with Raoul’s retreating laughter. Théo grabbed the bowl, which had been spared the results of the violence, and retreated back to Hikaze, who was now very awake, to nurse his new head injury.

“You okay? Lemme see!” Hikaze brusquely pulled aside Théo’s hair to try and see the injury, but the cell was too dark to make out anything against his umber tone.

“I’ll be fine,” Théo replied, waving him away. “You’re the one we need to worry about. He won’t rough me up too much.” But the fact that he was doing it at all was a concern. He’d made sure to do it in a way that the would wouldn’t be visible, but he’d made himself clear- Théo, no matter how valuable he was, was not exempt from injury. “Eat. You’ll need your strength. When we’re done, tell me more about the Progenitor.”

“Seriously though, can you stop calling him that? It’s weird,” Hikaze spat, starting to sip at his bowl. Théo chuckled and took a glance at his own bowl before shoving it over to Hikaze. It looked to be actual soup and not just slop. They were likely being fed the same thing as their captors, if not just the scraps.

“You should have this.”

“No way, that’s yours,” Hikaze protested, pushing the bowl away.

“You need nutrients to recover. This is hardly enough for an adult, let alone a teenager. I’ll eat next meal, so please,” Théo insisted.

“Says the guy who just got his head slammed into a metal bar,” Hikaze scoffed. “Maybe you’re the one with a concussion now, huh?” Hikaze gave him a teasing grin before pushing the bowl back and taking in the last of his soup.

“Can’t deny that,” Théo replied with a laugh, pushing the soup back.

They went back and forth like that for a while, stubbornly trying to get the other to take the bowl.

“You’re worse than he is,” Hikaze said, as he pushed bowl back again.

“Hm? You mean the Young Master? Oh no, I assure you, he’s far more stubborn than I am. I am merely following his example.“ Push.

“Well I had to deal with Esaias’ stubbornness, and I’m plenty used to it,” Hikaze retorted. Push.

“If he was truly anything like the Young Master, I have a hard time imagining that worked out for you.” Push.

“I won… sometimes.” His push of the bowl was also somewhat less enthusiastic.

“Perhaps our Young Master is indeed not the Progenitor as he so fervently claims,” Théo replied, amused, as he pushed the bowl back again. “I’ve yet to see him cave to anyone, even our Patriarch.”

“Stasi just hasn’t had to argue against anything fun yet,” Hikaze snickered, his pushing regaining its vigor.

“Okay, this has to cease. I will eat half if you will consume the other half. Is this a reasonable compromise?” Théo asked, an amused smile still on his face.

A complicated look came over Hikaze’s face. Was compromising giving in? Théo should really be eating the food he was allotted, but damn was he still hungry. Almost in response to that thought, his stomach growled in anticipation, and Hikaze relented.

“Fine, but you have to eat the first half!” he insisted.

“Acceptable,” Théo chuckled, finally taking the bowl to his lips. Unbeknownst to Hikaze though, Théo cheated, only parting his lips enough to allow the smallest of morsels in with the thin broth before handing a much chunkier bowl to the younger boy. Hikaze looked at it dubiously, seeming to notice that something about it was off, but not entirely sure what. He muttered a Kantonian phrase under his breath before swallowing that down too. He set the second bowl inside the first and sighed as he leaned himself back against the wall.

“Uggghhhhh, why do I feel even worse than yesterday,” Hikaze groaned. He thought he’d been sore when he’d woken up in the carriage, but no, this was a whole new level of aching. Honestly, this was probably the worst pain he’d ever experienced in either lifetime. And he’d experienced his fair share of exercise ache as an idol.

“The inflammation has finished setting in,” Théo explained. “You also just spent the night on the floor of a prison cell. While the cold probably helped your bruises, it didn’t do your bones any favors. I’m pretty stiff myself. Normally, I’d give you a poultice to help, but I don’t think that’s a luxury they’ll afford us.” Théo tried to hide the frown on his face in the gloom of the cell, but Hikaze definitely looked worse. His sun-tanned skin was pale, and, if Théo didn’t know better, he’d think the boy hadn’t slept. For all of Minoru’s talk that he wanted to take Hikaze out of here, he sure wasn’t taking very many measures towards that. Was Raoul actually actively keeping him away? The amount of care Minoru had allowed him to provide the boy really was just the bare minimum to keep him looking nice until they were both found buyers, but he couldn’t tell if that was Minoru’s prerogative or only what he’s been able to manage under his superior’s orders. Regardless, it was clear that, after this, they didn’t care what happened to the boy, so, either Minoru was ignorant of the amount of damage Hikaze had taken, or he was just spouting platitudes. Neither possibility sat well with Théo. “The Young Master needs to hurry,” he muttered quietly under his breath.

#Anastasios #Hikaze #Celia #{Xander}#Return of the Progenitor || Sun!Verse #Moirai || Clotho #Clotho || Chapter 5

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