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 Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 8:50 pm
It had been too long. That was what he decided, and fate wasn't being helpful at all. Red was probably doing something silly like being way overprotective of his guardian or something, and decided that he needed to wrap her up in bubble wrap and keep her in the house. Well. That was all good and whatever, but he was not having it anymore. It was time to take matters into his own rather sparkly hands.
He was like a ninja. His black body blended perfectly into the night, and he floated above the ground. Not to mention he was completely incorporeal, which meant he couldn't bump into the coffee table or anything else that might bar his way. He was incredibly stealthy, and he was not taking any chances. Nothing was going to get between him and his Red. Nothing.
Dio just hoped that Zero and Red hadn't moved when he wasn't looking. That, would be awkward.
He'd never tried to break in somewhere before, but he didn't want to give anyone a chance to turn him away. Dio could somehow feel that Red was down somewhere underneath him. He didn't really bother with trying to find the door, instead he just phased his body partially through the floor. At first all he could see was darkness, but his eyes quickly adjusted to the lower level of light. While it was impossible to tell any form of color, he knew that it had to be Red's room. It was full of things in different states of repair. Dio assumed they were things that he'd broken, that he was in the process of fixing. Not to mention the weapons. There were enough of those that there was no mistaking whose area this was.
That was when he saw him. His best friend in the whole world. Excitement just bubbled up inside Dio and he finished moving through the floor. It was him! He was right there! The black fiend moved down through the air and closed the distance between them. Red looked so... peaceful, and adorable. Dio was overwhelmed with the sudden urge to snuggle into the other fiend's chest and hug him. That passed, luckily. He was pretty sure that even though his friend would never intentionally hurt him, waking him up that way was probably a bad idea.
Instead Dio leaned down over him, and brushed his face against Red's. If they had lips, they would have touched. It was how he mimed giving Merci a kiss, and he'd missed Red so much he couldn't help the gesture. 'Wake up Sleeping Beauty...' His voice was happy, and teasing as he tried to coax the larger fiend to wakefulness.
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 3:22 pm
If only it had been so simple. If only it had been simply a matter of protection - Red certainly would have known how to deal with it. This, however, had been a completely different problem.
There was indeed wreckage, indeed breaking in the objects around him - but there was also an heavy layer of dust on some of them, as if they'd been laying there for awhile. His spear - his most prized possession, really - was in such a state, and if Dio hadn't been so intent to go right for his best friend, it would have been a warning sign.
But perhaps, unknowingly, this had been the best approach. After all, did the prince not awaken his princess with a true love's kiss ? It was not the gesture but the words, familiar and foreign at the same time, that finally had him open his eyes.
The usually strong blue glow of his eyes was down on the barest flutter of a light. Who was here ? Zero ? No... Not Zero. Zero wasn't here. Not the brat, either.
Sei was... the image came then faded away in an instant.
'Who....' The mental voice was raw, and quiet from disuse. Something was wrong - that much was evident.
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 6:11 pm
The star gazer paused and his playful joy at seeing his friend melted away. The sound of that voice was so, weak. It was so completely unexpected it stopped Dio cold in his tracks. 'Red?' For a moment his brain stopped. His friend was so strong, there was no chance this could be him. It was though, and he felt a surge of fear like he'd not felt in a long time.
His hands moved from behind his own back and he grabbed the larger fiend by his arms. His hair, fell away from his eyes, gravity pulling it away from his face. Dio was hovering just above Red, and both of his burgundy irises were visible. They were filled with concern. 'Red are you okay? Whats going on?' On the heels of fear and worry for his friend, was helplessness. Dio'd never been the stronger of the two of them, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold onto Red. That he would just, slip away.
The black fiend jerked his head up to look around, he hadn't sensed anything dangerous nearby. If there wasn't anything here, how long had his friend been laying here? The thought that he'd not seen Red for a year, and he hadn't come looking sooner, gave Dio a cold rush of guilt.
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 7:23 pm
It took a moment for the voice to process, for the words to string together and start making sense - and for recognition to finally hit through his mental 'fog'. 'Dio... ?'
What was Dio doing here ?
,,,Where was he, anyway ? For a moment he didn't know, didn't remember. It took a moment before he recognized his own surroundings, realized this was his room.
It was tempting to just go back to sleep, go back to the darkness - go back to simply, and slowly, slipping away.
Except that something was now different than any of the other times he'd woken up.
Dio was here.
'Zero...' He blinked, shaking his head, finally glancing at Dio again. ...What had he been trying to say ?
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 8:26 pm
The black fiend moved down and pressed himself against Red. His arms slipped around the larger fiend and he held him for a moment. Dio had to do it. He needed to prove to himself somehow that his friend was real, and wasn't some figment of his imagination. 'Red what happened to you? Talk to me! Is there something wrong with Zero?' he moved his head back and looked at Red's face.
There wasn't anything visibly wrong with him. In fact the larger fiend had simply seemed to be sleeping. Dio's black fingers moved down the side of Red's face 'Red, do I need to go find Zero? Where is she? Do you know?' Maybe if he found her, he could fix his friend. It was starting to sink in that he was poorly equipped for this. He needed Mystic. He needed Athan and Reyna. Dio realized he was out of his league. He just couldn't make himself let go right away. 'Red, I'm here. I'm going to help you, can you move?' He needed to get them to Twilight Designs. The smaller fiend knew he'd find help there.
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 9:19 pm
No, Red wasn't making much sense at all, but in a way the frantic questions seemed to help. It gave him something specific to look for, at the very least. The memory, the answer was there somewhere, but it was convulsed and disjointed and he was certainly in no state to try to connect the pieces.
'Gone.' He finally said, shaking his head. 'Don't know...' Well, certainly he didn't. It was hard to imagine he wouldn't have turned gaia upside-down if he'd been in a better shape to do so.
As for how long he'd been like this, well... Perhaps only Red himself knew, and he didn't seem like he was going to spit it out right now.
Move ? He didn't especially want to move - really, just passing right back out seemed like a good idea. Maybe drag Dio into the nest too. But Dio apparently wanted to go somewhere else, and, hell.
When had he even been able to refuse Dio anything ? No, he had no idea why they were leaving or where they were going. He also didn't seem to be caring much. 'Hn.' That wasn't much of an answer, but he did reach for his spear. Only to have his hand go through it. Once, twice, three times before he finally seemed to give up, muttering something incoherent and annoyed-sounding.
That was probably the most Red-thing he'd done so far. Well, ******** the spear. The spear could stay behind. And be bored. Or something. Stupid spear.
'Where we going ?' It finally seemed to occur to him to ask.
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 12:03 am
He felt an icy chill run down his spine. The worst things he'd ever been able to imagine in his life hadn't stood a chance next to Red. What on Gaia could have done this to him? Whatever it was, Dio was pretty sure that it would make short work of him. It made his heart hitch when he saw his friend reach for his spear and be unable to touch it. 'Don't worry. I'll protect you.' He put as much conviction in his voice as possible. Red had been his guardian, he stopped anything bad that had happened to the smaller fiend. He'd saved Dio's life when he was a stone, before he'd had a guardian. Now, it was his turn.
The teenager stuffed the selfish need to cling to Red, and he pulled back away from him. 'Come on, I need to take you to see Athan. We'll figure this all out. I'll keep you safe.' He slipped his arms from around the other fiend. Even though he was smaller, Dio quickly offered his hands to his best friend. 'Just hold onto me.' If his guardian was gone, would he end up like Bloo? Would Red just disappear? Would he change somehow?
Dio was afraid. He didn't know who else to go to. The only one he could think of to go to for help, was Athan. He would move heaven and Gaia itself to see that his friend got the care he needed. It was the least he could do, he owed Red his life twice over.
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 5:08 pm
Something was making Dio uneasy, that much was clear, but it still took a moment before he actually pinpointed what it was - that is, that it was him.
It certainly didn't sit well with him at all - the simple idea of Dio having to worry about him was kind of an alien one. It was meant to be the other way around. Really. Always should have been.
'I'll be fine.' It was empty and they both knew it, but it was a little closer to being right - things hadn't felt right since... since then. As long as they could both believe it, then it was what mattered.
And his own weakness was making him rather irritable, but even he had to admit that he had no other option. He didn't even remember why he'd come down there anyway, why he hadn't just gone to seek others - or even how long it had been.
Obviously, Zero hadn't come back. He paused for a moment, looking back at the staircase leading to the second floor. No, no, there was no use going to look. He already knew his guardian wasn't there.
'Let's go.' He managed to say, shaking his head.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:49 pm
Dio helped Red out of the house. The night air was cool, and the moon was low in the sky. It was early still, probably only a couple hours past sunset. The black fiend had come over right away, because he'd meant to spend the entire night catching up. Now he was just glad because maybe he wouldn't have to wake Athan or Reyna up. They might still be around.
This was way to slow. The smaller fiend had one arm wrapped around Red's waist, and the other holding the other fiend's arm over his shoulders. 'Hold on, this isn't working.' Dio frowned a little bit and he looked up toward the other shadow. He shifted around and pulled Red's bulk up onto his back, giving his friend the odd fiendish version of a piggy back ride. It was breaking his heart to see him like this, but at least they were on the way now. Though he was small, it seemed like he was full of energy. He'd been getting stronger, steadily, and he'd never been in better shape before. It was probably a very good thing, considering it seemed the opposite had happened to Red.
****
He lost track of how long they'd been moving. For once, it was kinda quiet in his head too. The stars, it seemed, were being sensitive to the fact he was so upset. All he could hear was the occasional whisper of directions, helping him to guide Red through shortcuts on their way to help. He realized suddenly that he was in an area he recognized. They passed the used bookstore like strangely colored ghosts in the darkness, it wouldn't be long till they got there.
Dio knew that there were wards around the shop. He and Merci and worked a closing shift enough to know that when they left, the shop was protected. Hopefully he wouldn't have to try and leave Red to find Athan, he honestly prayed that the spells would let him know they were there.
The black fiend pulled up short for a moment next to the window. It had a festive display inside, one that he remembered helping to put up actually. The surge of relief at finally having gotten there was palpable. The moon was no longer low in the sky, and the only reason he knew hours had passed was because he studied the celestial bodies. 'We're here. Come on Red I'll get you some help. Don't worry, I'm going to take care of you.'
He was never leaving Red alone again, and with that promise to himself, he pulled his best friend into the safety of Twilight Designs.
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:30 pm
The trip to the shop was rather uneventful - with Red more or less allowing himself to be carried (which probably was one sight the world might never see again). In fact, it seemed like he'd dozed off somewhere in transition, which only made the task of carrying him easier.
(Still, he'd probably never admit Dio had to carry his a** for a few hours even if held at gunpoint.)
'Hn ?' Came the sleepy answer. They were where ? Oh... right. 'Okay.' Apparently being taken care of by Dio wasn't such a scary thing, and he at least tried to support himself now.
There were questions, things he wanted to say, but it seemed like the words were all mixing up in his mind...
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Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:29 pm
Dio didn't even pause as he guided Red into the back room. The comforting and familiar surroundings did a lot to calm his ragged nerves. Safety had another side effect though, one he hadn't been prepared for. Guilt crashed over him in debilitating waves. Tears pricked at his eyes as he turned and clung to Red. 'I'll never leave you alone again. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. I should have checked on you before now. I am the worst friend ever, please forgive me. I'm going to make sure Athan takes care of you! I'm not going to leave your side until you're back on your feet, or floating on your tail, whatever you decide to do.' The words poured out of him. If he'd been speaking he'd probably sound completely choked up, instead the words were rushed.
He knew he needed to go find Athan fairly quickly, but it couldn't hurt to just hold Red for a few minutes could it? Dio was afraid of fetching anyone else, because they would know what an irresponsible friend he'd been. Though that nagging guilt was there to remind him that none of this was about him. It was about Red, and knowing that he would be healthy and safe.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:33 am
Just as the two Fiends settled themselves into the back room, the key to the front of the shop turned with an audible noise, breaking the silence. The familiar door bell chimed to signal that someone had stepped through. The door locked, and inside was a drowsy looking Athan.
He had been napping only to be abruptly awoken by Hawk's frenzied mental images of Dio hauling Red to the shop. He sighed. There was no telling what sort of trouble they had gotten into. For once, he was thankful of Hawk's ever constant presence. His Foresight was a true gift at times.
"Dio? Are you here?" he asked aloud as he strode calmly towards the back room. Absent where his ever flowing robes, and instead he wore a tank top and what looked suspiciously like pajama pants. His hair was even left undone. They had most certainly interrupted his evening. He had meant to change, but the Seer had insisted there was no time to spare for trivial matters such as proper attire.
"Oh my," Athan said, brow furrowed in worried lines as he caught sight of Red. "Goodness, boy, you are fading." He'd seen this happen more than once now, and he knew what it meant. "Where is your guardian?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:52 pm
The black fiend turned his head and perked up when he heard the sound of the bell. He was certain it was locked up, and it was still to early for the first shift workers to come in for the day. 'We're here! In the back!' He responded when he heard the man's voice call from the front of the shop. The feelings of despair and worry he'd been feeling moments ago faded completely when he caught sight of Athan. Conflicting emotions sprang to the surface, The first of which was utter relief. With the magus there, Dio felt like he could relax. Red would be completely taken care of, he was sure of it. If anyone could make this situation okay, it would be the Athan man.
Mixed in with that utter feeling of calm, however, was shock and total surprise at his state of undress. He'd never, ever seen Athan look so... unkempt! It wasn't bad, it was just really really different and it caught him totally off guard.
Then he realized that he was still clinging to his friend. Dio flushed, and if his skin had been lighter, it would have been easy to see the burning blush on his cheeks as he parted from Red. He wanted to give Athan room to move and examine the other fiend if he should need to.
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:11 pm
Had he been in a better state, well, Red would probably have been terribly amused. Both at how Athan looked and how Dio reacted, through the snake fiend showed little embarrassment with the fact that he'd been, more or less, a cuddling post. Embarrassment was rarely a word and an emotion was was in Red's vocabulary. In fact, he had looked perfectly comfortable, tail lightly wagging back in forth in a pleased expression, and. in fact, Red looked more confused as to why Dio moved away than why he'd been so close to begin with.
Normally Athan's question would probably have been met with something like, gee, do I look like I know ? But it was not, and that was a sure fire sign that things weren't quite alright. Athan's presence was one that he was used to, having been bound to the spellcaster longer than most other fiends were. It had taken some time for Zero to finally come along.
But Zero... where was she ? Glowing blue eyes narrowed slightly, thoughtful. 'Don't know.' That was the easy part, which was not what his current mental struggle was about. Why was it so damn hard to think ? 'Some people came. They took her away. I think I got a few...' Damned if he could remember that. 'They started... Uh. Shooting beams of light at me. Really hurt. Eventually knocked me out. ...I think ?' Explained the new scars... Not that scars on Red needed explaining, most of the time.
Hopefully there would be a more... precise recollection once he recovered some.
'...Im going to find them. ...And im going to rip their damned heads off.' Red paused, gathering his thoughts before they could slide away again. 'And if they even ripped one hair off her head... Im gonna do it twice.'
...That was Red-like, admitedly.
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Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:34 am
"Yes, well, maiming and ... head ripping ... will have to wait for later. You are in no condition to defend yourself let alone your missing guardian," Athan stated firmly. He moved without hesitation as he made his way towards both Shadows.
"You are not going to like what I am about to do, and I apologize for the dizziness that is sure to follow," was all he said in warning before reaching for the stone set within the chest of each Fiend.
The scenery shifted wildly as though it were melting or distorted like an image in a fun house mirror. A second later they were no longer within the back room of Twilight Designs nor on Gaia. They were now transported on the front porch of Athan's house in a different plane entirely.
"My apologies," he said to both boys as he relinquished his grip upon them, "Time is of the utmost essence, and regular portals for travel cannot be opened within the shop itself. It was also the only way I could ensure you'd both make it here safely given Red's incorporeal state."
"Uncle?" Holicinesh said as he peeked around the front door to see what the commotion was, "You've already returned?"
"Yes. Help me get them to my study. The one downstairs," Athan replied, "Where is Hawk?" He paused before frowning intensely as he realized the answer to his own question. "Nevermind."
The Seer was already within his study gathering the materials he needed. Truly, that was helpful, but at the same time it was infuriating that the creature was continuously able to break past his wards.
No one was allowed in his spell room without explicit permission.
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