Burning Love Like a Phoenix Ch 3
#3 of Burnin Love Like a Phoenix
Notes:
N I want to say beforehand that this is an M/M story so if you don´t like don´t read, okay? Also that ANY flaming will be erased and if you piss me off enough with flaming, it will be motive enough for blocking, saying that enjoy the story :) Beta'd by SophusMao. I don´t own Komamura (though I´d love to ;), or any of the characters of Bleach, or any of the terminology I may use of Final Fantasy, I merely take them on a creative stroll. I also think Komamura is largely forgotten and doesn´t receive enough love, that said; enjoy the story ;)
Chapter 3: A Moment Of Relief.
"My, my. I did not knew these beasts could be such good strategists, to manage to get a group of Shinigamis and corner them to this secluded place was something I did not think possible for them to actually achieve" The stranger said. He had a clear British accent, this young man, whoever he was it was evident that he is not only intelligent, but also sophisticated, with a honey-velvet sweet voice that sent shivers down my spine, that dripped with amusement, but also exuded kindness. It was confusing at best, he seemed to be behind all of this, and yet he didn't. It was very hard to tell, I could not read him, and I could tell that the others were having trouble reading this young man too.
"Are you behind all of this? If so, why?" Ukitake asked, exhaustion evident in his voice. The young man snorted, then laughed out loud.
"Me? Behind all of this? I must admit, I am brilliant enough and that I could have concocted a strategy like this one if I wanted. But no, I am not behind this. Especially since once I felt the disturbance, and that you lot were in danger I rushed here from London, must I add at top speed, to your aid. So, in other words: we are on the same side, Shinigami" He answered seriously looking at all of us. The hollows that were stunned by his appearance and him defeating the group of hollows who went after him when he was in the woods were startled by how close he was.
"A-are you a Shinigami? Where the heck did you came from?" Asked Ise Nanao. To which he chuckled, a sardonic smirk touching his features.
"No, dear, I am not a Shinigami" He answered.
"Then, what are you? Your pupils... they look slit, sharp, cat-like, do you know Yoruichi, by any chance?" I asked, unable to resist my curiosity. He chuckled, and looked at me.
"Quite the curious one, aren't you? To answer your question, werewolf, I am a Mage, the warrior kind of Mage, not like the modern type the humans are so fond of portraying in the Television, which by the way, it is inaccurate, and sometimes, denigrate and even offensive" He answered with a sigh at the end, but kindness was evident in his voice.
"But..." Kyöraku was about to ask something when the young man, the mage, interrupted him.
"As much as I would love to keep chatting I have a herd of Hollows to dispose of. We will talk, later, but first, I have to protect all of you, so be quiet, stay still, and do not try any stupid heroics, leave this to me" He said seriously and slightly glaring, I agreed of course, I was injured enough to not be able to fight until I was treated by our healers back in Seiretei.
"But you´ll be able to fight all of them? Not that I´m saying that you can´t, but..." Tetsuzaemon asked, while our new ally mage grinned almost evilly and chuckled, to the point where I saw some of us have our collective hairs stand on end.
"Oh, do not worry yourself over that, you will see soon enough if I am up to the task or not, but first: Obex!" He answered and then called, and it was like a whirlwind of reiatsu surrounded him and made itself visible, pulling strands of his thick hair up into the air around him, and a translucent barrier was cast into the area, separating us from the Hollow and him. Even though we heard everything and the wind blew as if there was nothing there.
"Wha-what's this?" asked Hisagi
"A barrier, what else? I do not use Kidö, I use magic and cast spells" He answered looking at Hisagi as if he had grown another head, or had said something incredibly stupid.
"Now: Revitalia! Now, before you ask, this is healing magic it will restore your health and heal your wounds slowly but surely. I will not have to worry about any of you dying on me, which should help you out while I dispose of these... beasts." He said, with a feral grin aimed to the hollows, He was quite intimidating. I realized that his eyes glowed whilst he cast his "spells". The iris becomes golden as the whites of them turn a midnight black. It was disturbing yet oddly fascinating.
"Now, let us begin, beasts, let us hear your requiem, hmm?" He asked tipping his head sideways so part of his face was shadowed by his hair, and grinned evilly.
"Trinum!" He said sharply while snapping his right thumb and middle finger. Three triangles, a larger one followed by two smaller ones, formed above his hand. The top of the triangles pointed north, southeast, and southwest. The significance of this I could only guess at as the triangles crackled with a blue lightning. Then we saw what looked like triangles appearing out of nowhere and moving at fast speed approaching a small group of hollows, who did not had time to escape and an electric explosion went of and eliminated them.
"Let us try something, shall we? Aestuo!" He unsheathed his nodachi, and threw the sheath of his blade into the barrier making it land into the grass while he cast the spell. There was a blinding explosion all around us and an ear-splitting screech from the Hollows as some perished to the light as others lost limbs and other body parts in a bloody wave. The Hollows that were too injured to fight and easy to finish off cowered as a single one howled as it gathered itself to fight. It's regeneration taking its time. I heard my fellow shinigami gasp and I followed their gazes up so I looked up, the strangers sword had an aura around it, very much like Yamamoto-sama´s Ryüjin-Jakka, however it was not fire. It was a purple haze that had Kyöraku pointing and asking, "What's going on with your sword?"
It was a question I'm sure most of us would have asked if given the chance.
"It is Darkness in its purest form. My nodachi has many abilities, it can take on many elements. Fire, air, water, lightning...all I need is the desire. I have the ability to control and manipulate the elements, embed them in my weapon, make it dance with their destructive power. All it needs is a little encouragement. Darkness happens to be the element which I have most affinity to, and it is costless to me to use. It has become the main element of the nodachi, and my own" He answered, while walking up to the struggling hollow.
"Well, it is your time, fiend, I will not spend more time dealing with you, may you find peace in the after-life" he said while he exterminated the hollow. He cleaned his nodachi with a rag, threw said rag to the air, snapped his fingers and the rag was consumed in flames. He watched our curious gazes, smiling as the fire died away with the remnants of the rag. His eyes flashed black and gold again, and the sheath of his nodachi housed the blade and tied itself to the hilt.
"How did you do that?!" asked an excited Hisagi, and the young man approached us kneeled down and set in his nodachi on the ground beside me.
"Do what? I have done many things since I reached here" he said chuckling while he took a quick look at our healing wounds.
"That with the rope tying itself around the hilt of your nodachi" Answered a very curious Kira, while Kuckiki, Kyöraku, Tetsuzaemon, and Hisagi nodded.
"Oh, that. Well, that is a secret trick I learned many years ago" He chuckled while he tended to Ukitake. The others groaned their irritation about him evading the question.
"I am sorry to say, you can ask all that you want, but I do not promise to answer all of your questions. Please understand that while this is new, you still have to earn my complete trust before you can ask me such personal questions. I expect the same from you, I will also earn your trust before I indulge in my curiosity and ask personal questions" he answered his tone was gentle, the fierce, ruthless predator warrior demeanour he had while in battle was gone and in its place was a kind, and gentle young man tending to our wounds.
"You really didn´t have anything to do with this whole hollow fiasco?" asked Tetsuzaemon still wary of our, dare I say new ally?
"Besides saving your life? No, those things have been hounding me too for many years, besides I would never access that kind of power to call these things under one´s command. It requires quite dark and forbidden magic practices, kinds which often require human sacrifices, blood, or more disturbing things. More often than not it requires many dark and different practices of Alchemy, which I must say is a mostly forgotten art with good reasons" He answered.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because, 95% of the time it, ends in catastrophe or misfortune for the user of the Alchemy, or those closest to him; family, lovers, and friends. The cost tends to be too high for most. If an Alchemy practitioner wanted a luxury sports car, and someone he knew coincidentally had said car, or something similar, then it would happen that the person would die and the Alchemy practitioner would inherit the car. That is the kind of price Alchemy has, everything has its price, and in Alchemy it tends to be exorbitantly high. Alchemy is something better not toyed with, and to be feared" he answered, looking me in the eyes, all seriousness. I could see that he was telling the absolute truth, his eyes showed nothing except of honesty and sincerity.
The way he said it left a sour taste in most our mouths. It was almost as if he knew the price first hand and not from some rule he had been told once. We sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes as we watched the mage tend to the many wounds we presented.
"We do not know your name." Kuchiki pointed out with a voice just as serious as his as she stretched her newly healed thigh.
"My name is Sven Hylén, you can call me whichever you wish, Sven or Hylén, as long as we are respectful I do not mind" he answered while finishing tending Kira.
"That´s not a name that sounds British, and yet you have a British accent" asked Kuckiki stated.
"That is because I am Swedish. I once had family here in England and in Sweden, and spent many years of my childhood and adolescence here. The accent stuck, much to the amusement of my family in Sweden." Sven answered a bit melancholically, nostalgia evident in his voice and face.
"But enough talking about me, all of you seem to be on your way to recovery. At least you are not bleeding anymore, have any of you been able to contact your people? And yes I have noticed, and I do not care, as long as we are all civil and no one charges against me, at any rate you will be better in the hands of your own, which will be able to take care of your wounds better than I do now, so any luck?" Sven asked looking at all of us.
"Yes, we have been trying but until you came the hollows did not allowed us, and any effort we tried they thwarted it, thankfully you came to our aid" I thanked him.
He nodded and stood beside us, thankfully he had helped us into a more comfortable seated position. He sat with his arms crossed on top of his chest with his Nodachi nestled between them and his chest, the hilt of the sheathed sword rested against his shoulder while the rest of it was leaning on the floor. The breeze was playing with his long mane of silver hair; he looked peaceful, serene, with his eyes closed.
After a few minutes, the peaceful atmosphere was broken when the Senkaimon was opened and out of it came most of the Taichös except Kurotsuchi, Suí-Fëng, Kempachi and their respective Fukutaichö´s.
Immediately the atmosphere got tense, and Sven stiffened his relaxed posture, uncrossing his arms and changing his Nodachi from his right to his left hand balancing it so the sheath was pointing back, and the sword ready to be drew just in case. Before any of us who he saved could say anything, he relaxed a bit, and looked directly to our fellow shinigami.
"There is no need to become aggressive, I have not harmed your friends" Sven said with a calm voice, his face did not show anything but honesty and sincerity.
"Then who did it?" asked Yamamoto-sama as he tapped the tip of his walking stick into the mossy ground.
"The massive amount of hollows that infested this area, they had been trying to contact you for a long time before I came in to their aid, I was told" Sven said holding Yamamoto- sama's gaze bowing his head slightly in respect. "What worries me though, is that these hollows had this whole trap thoroughly planned, to an excruciating level of detail, and managed to fool your intel-provider. Had I been any slower coming to their aid, they would have been slain. Without doubt, something is amiss here, a mutual foe has arisen, and is out for both of us. I have been attacked before." He finished and waited for a reply.
"Then you´re on our side? What and who are you? You don´t feel like Shinigami, Quincy, or Hollow" Said Kurosaki Ichigo. Calling Sven´s attention.
"Yes, I am on your side. We have similar goals, I believe, we could join in an alliance effort, and further our mutual goals. It is only logical. I am a Mage. I am willing to answer any of your questions if I, in turn, can ask my own." Said Sven.
"A mage? Your kind has not been heard of in centuries, it was presumed you were extinct" Said Kuckiki Byakuya, suspicion narrowed his eyes.
"Extinct? No, we have learned to hide our powers and to go unnoticed. Centuries of prosecution by brainless human fools like the "holy" Christian inquisition, after they learned what we are. We quickly learned to hide our gifts, we have not been extinguished."
"So, why act now? Are you an emissary of your kind?" asked Hitsugaya.
"I am the emissary of my own person; I cannot talk about other Mages and Witches. It has been a long time I had any contact with any of the covens or clans around the world. I came to the aid of your friends, because they were about to be slain, and I had never needed a reason to help someone" Sven answered.
"Why? Where is your clan or coven?" asked Matsumoto Rangiku, looking around the area we were.
"Deceased, long ago, I am the last remaining member of my "bloodline" so to speak" Sven answered.
"Did you kill them?" asked Abarai Renji. A harsh question that made Sven narrow his eyes at the red-head, though it was a necessary question all the same.
"No, I did not, but I could not prevent their deaths" Sven said with an air of finality.
"Do you mind if I and my men take care of the wounded? We want no trouble" asked Unohana Retsu, with her natural kindness. To which he made a reverence and got out of the way extending his arm towards us as a sign of offering.
"They are all yours, Lady, allow me to remove this barrier: Dispel" He said snapping his thumb and middle finger, and stepped away enough to not be in the way.
"Commendable work, very thorough and efficient, I did not realise you were a healer" Praised Unohana.
"I know White Magic the kind of magic that is used to heal, but I am more proficient as a war mage, or how we used to be called an "Arcane Warrior", but in no way am I at your level at healing, Lady." Sven said honestly as he turned back toward Yamamoto, "I could give you a contact number, if it pleases you, so that you and your kin may contact me should you decided an allegiance would be beneficial to us both."
He extended his hand which had a card held beteen two finger and waited patiently for Yamamoto to make his decision. The old man eye Sven with wise eyes before nodding, having Byakuya step forward and take the card.
Sven nodded, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly and the air relaxed and tensions fell away. People began moving, Ichigo and Renji approached Kuchiki , their example lead others to form similar groups with the wounded who were stable enough to be moved to the fourth division headquarters. Unohana had done good work and motioned for a member of his team to see to me.
I shut my eyes and rested and the boy began his healing so I could be moved. My wandering mind was startled as a presence knelt beside us.
"Young man, if it is not an inconvenience, and you are done tending him, I would like to talk with Komamura Taichö alone" The voice of Sven was close.
"Sure, thing, sir, I ended tending him a few minutes ago, I was just checking my work" the healer said while he got up, packed his things and left.
There was silence and the feeling of eyes watching me got a little irritating so I opened my own. "Yes? You wished to speak."