PROMISE OF BLOOD

Author’s Notes:

Okay, this story’s plot is actually Cherii’s, but since she is too lazy and busy to write this actually creative plot, I have to be the one to post this stuff. Darn it. Cherii-chan, you really have to create your own account in MÄR isn’t mine, and the plot of this story is my best friend’s a.k.a. Cherii-chan’s.

IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS STORY IS SET BEFORE THE WAR GAME 2.

He was lying under the shade of an old tree, Bell sleeping on the grass next to him. The sun was set high, glaring forcibly and causing the endless drops of sweat to roll down from his forehead. He scowled at the rays that managed to break through the thickness of the leaves. He regretted his decision to wear his usual turtleneck instead of a mere T-shirt that day.

Alviss disliked summers that are too hot.

“Al-kun!”

It was a bright voice of a teenage girl, running toward him with the sleeves of her shirt rolled up and her shoulder-length hair tied in a ponytail. Her eyes were the sharpest silver one could ever imagine, with hair as black as night itself. She was probably two years younger than the fifteen-year-old Alviss, her pale, pale skin rivalling his. She leapt over a protruding root from the ground, landing lightly though less gracefully than a girl should have been.

Alviss sat up straight, for once a smile breaking on his expression. “Chal,” he greeted her lightly, slight relief in his voice.

The girl grinned at him teasingly. “You’re sweating a lot, Al-kun,” she remarked casually, shielding her eyes with one from the glare of the sun. “Why are you not wearing a simple T-shirt? Your turtleneck looks awfully hot, you know.”

Alviss winced as the sentence hit true. “Let’s just say I made the wrong decision,” he grunted, standing up straight. He stretched his arms, eyes glinting in flaming spirit. “Do you want to be my partner, Chal?”

It was a kind of code between them, and Chal nodded, mischief entering her pair of brilliant orbs. “I think I won’t regret this hot noon, after all,” she said, cocking her head in sly expectation.

XXX

Parry. Parry. Thrust. Evade. Jump. Slash.

The rhythm was one with Chal’s breath. She avoided a particularly well-aimed attack on her left side, calling up her ÄRM in the same time. “Wind Blade!”

A silver blade appeared in her grip. Her favourite weapon ÄRM. Thankfully, Bell had not awakened yet or else the fairy would have been screaming how she should not hurt Bell’s beloved Alviss even though they were training and so on. She grinned at the thought, before slashing the air in front of her in what seemed to be a random move. The air she sliced became wind, moving in a rapid succession toward Alviss who was standing a few meters away, slicing the boy’s shirt and tearing some cloth from his sleeve.

“You really should have worn a thin T-shirt instead, Al-kun,” she called cheerfully, ducking to evade a very close punch to her shoulder.

She smirked at the observation she just made. ‘Al-kun never aims for fatal spots.’

Alviss did a smooth swiping kick, and she jumped right in time. “Sylphid!” she beckoned under her breath, calling her wind Guardian. A pair of thin translucent wings shot out from her back, suspending her in the air. She flew upward, stopping several feet above ground.

Alviss grunted in appreciation of her quick thinking, and she sent him a mocking smile.

“Thirteen Totem Pole!”

It was an extremely close call, and she managed to fly a few centimetres higher before the pole struck the air she was floating in before. She descended to the ground, her wings disappearing and transferring to her boots now. Her feet connected with the soil and she leapt, far higher than normal humans would be capable of, all thanks to Sylphid.

“That trick won’t work on me!” Alviss called playfully, sending out his Thirteen Totem Poles to form a surrounding wall. Then another shot out from the ground, right where Chal stood.

“No fair!” Chal shouted as she was brought higher and higher by the annoying pole, staring at Alviss far below. “I thought I heard you said you were going easy on me today!”

Alviss shrugged. “I changed my mind.”

Chal gave him an evil glare before transferring Sylphid back onto her back. She leapt off the edge of the pole, her wings and the sunlight illuminating her figure causing her to look like a descending angel.

‘An angel with a very sharp mouth,’ Alviss added, chuckling inwardly.

He retrieved all his Thirteen Totem Poles, extending his arms in the act of catching the falling angel. Her wings began to fade away in time, laughter spilling out from between her lips. Then Alviss caught her mid-fall, right when Sylphid disappeared fully. “Gotcha,” he whispered, more to himself than to the girl in his arms.

She latched her arms around Alviss’ neck. “Aren’t I too heavy, Al-kun?” she questioned, eyes half-worried.

Alviss shook his head. “Nope,” he replied with a casual smirk. “As light as the wind. You are too petite, you know.”

Chal pouted at this, grumbling under her breath. “I know I am short. I know I am small. Yeah, this world is so cruel and I’m used with that, so I guess everything’s OK.”

Alviss ignored her and instead held her in place, one arm supporting her back and the other below her knees. “You know what, Chal,” he began, eyes wandering to the sky up ahead. “I have decided to call another man from another world.”

Chal froze. “You mean, a person like Danna-san?”

Alviss nodded sombrely. “I have to kill him,” he stated. “I have to kill Phantom. I want to kill him that my heart aches with the need. I hate them all, those Chess Pieces.” His voice faltered slightly. “I know I am not strong enough. With the help of this stranger, I hope I can be strong. At least strong enough to destroy that accursed Phantom.”

Chal rested her head on his shoulder. “You are worrying about that particular thing again,” she said softly, tone portraying his pain. Then she stared straight into his eyes, grey eyes more petrifying than ever. “Promise me, Al-kun.”

He tried his best to appear relaxed. “What is it?”

“Don’t ever kill anyone. Don’t taint your hands with the undeserving blood of sinners. They are not even good enough to die in their hands.”

He tightened his grip on her, not willing to lose her. The Chal that just spoke to him was utterly different from the Chal he knew. This Chal was more serious, more matured. ‘Come back,’ he willed inwardly. “I will,” he replied, voice slow yet determined.

Then his angel smiled, a smile that caused him to blush fervently, which was unusual for him.

‘For you, I will.’

XXX

He was merely walking around in the nearest town to the edge of the forest where they lived. Bell was sitting on his shoulder, listing out all the household needs, and Chal had gone somewhere. They had promised to meet again at the edge of the town before returning to their house.

“Al?”

He averted his eyes to his small companion. “Yes?” he mumbled in reply, not actually paying attention.

“We need some cheese. I think we have to go to the store at the other end of the street. Please, Al? Please?”

There went a pleading expression again. Alviss shook his head in contained mirth, already starting to walk to the opposite way. “Alright,” he sighed. “We just went there earlier. Did you forget it?”

Bell pouted. “The cheese part happened to be at the end of the list.”

Alviss gazed at the bags he was holding. They weighed like tons. ‘You owe me one for doing the shopping instead, Chal,’ he grumbled inwardly, wondering how a girl as petite as Chal could manage to hold all these stuffs without collapsing midway. He was a good head and half taller than Chal.

He turned in a corner, only to find a rather deserted road. “Al?” Bell questioned, baffled. “Aren’t we going to the store?”

“Later, Bell,” he sighed. “It is hot today. I need some fresh air. The street behind is too crowded.”

“LOOK OUT, AL!”

Bell’s scream snapped his mind back to the alert mode, and he managed to evade a close blow to his shoulder, directed by a small figure clad in black robes. The figure wore a trademark mask: the mask of Chess no Koma.

“Chess,” Alviss hissed, hatred dripping like venom from his lips. The enemy took out a dagger ÄRM and began slashing and hacking mainly everything, an amateur attack that Alviss knew could not fool any professional. “Weak!” he shouted in uncontained glee, calling out his Thirteen Totem Poles and knocked the Chess no Koma straight off his feet. ‘You’re no Phantom, yet since you are a Chess no Koma…. Do I have a choice?’ He called out his own Dagger ÄRM, and pointed the sharp blade at the Chess’ chest, right above his heart. The Chess did not give any reaction, simply staring at him from beneath his mask. For a fleeting second, Alviss thought he saw regret within the figure. Pain and disappointment.

‘Too late,’ he snarled inwardly, embedding the blade deep into the Chess’ heart. Instant death was inevitable. The Chess gave no sound, not even a struggle. The Chess’ blood spurted out, coating Alviss, and from his shoulder he heard Bell complaining and screaming in fear.

“Bell,” he called to the fairy, voice harsh. “You go to the store first. I’ll catch up to you later.” The fairy did not even protest. She simply flew away, yelling to him how he should really clean up.

‘Cleaning up can wait….’ “Let’s see whose loser’s face is beneath this mask,” he whispered, snatching the mask away from the Chess’ head.

When he saw the pale, pale cheeks, the tears, the silvery grey eyes now glazed and unseeing , Alviss thought he had been dreaming.

“Al-kun!”

“You’re sweating a lot, Al-kun.”

“You really should have worn a thin T-shirt instead, Al-kun.”

“Aren’t I too heavy, Al-kun?”

“Promise me, Al-kun….”

The name just slipped off from his tongue as he stared at the girl it was indeed a girl. “…Chal?”

Then his gaze fell on his bloodied blade, on the blood covering his whole figure, on the limp body of his…his angel.

“WHY?!” he screamed to the sky, feeling pain coursed through his whole body, replacing blood. “…Why…?”

‘Was it a test she created?’

“Don’t ever kill anyone. Don’t taint your hands with the undeserving blood of sinners. They are not even good enough to die in their hands.”

He did not kill a sinner.

‘I’ll do anything for her….’

Yet he did kill an angel.

Someone was singing. He recognized the song, warming, filling his soul. As he knelt next to Chal’s body, he remembered it, remembered the melody, recalled the lyrics.

Chal’s song. The one she often sang.

“…And I’ll sing for you day and night

Staying as an angel by your side…”

He caressed Chal’s cold, cold cheek with one calloused finger. It felt as cold as ice, despite the warm air.

“So don’t let me be brought by tide

Hold me forever, warm and tight…”

As he felt a single drop of tear rolled down his cheek, as he felt the touch of her lips against his, as he cherished her still-remaining taste, as he closes her eyes now in peace….

He saw a smile, purer than the Heaven itself, and silver eyes more petrifying than the World. Tasted sweet, sweet lips, sweeter than nectar. Heard a laugh, tinkling like silver bells. Smelled the alluring scent of jasmines, arousing a longing in his now empty heart. Touched feather-soft skin….

“Al-kun!”

As he wept, as he embraced the petite figure he was so fond of for the last time, as he again and again called out her name, before finally placing all his feelings into his most gentle and last act.

A pure kiss on her forehead.

“There’s an angel by your side…”

XXX

Err…, that’s strange, isn’t it? Well, nay or yay, people?

Aqua Alta