blood red moon
~ a Shadow of Destiny fanfiction
Chapter Twelve
Eike wasn’t sure the creatures around him actually appeared arguing with one another, but any silences had been brief. Very, very brief, while the insults and arguments circled him like a tide. It didn’t take long to realize that the winged woman was among the least odd of them. Homunculus really was much closer to ‘normal,’ than Eike had first assumed.
The creatures surrounding him were each a very specific collection of unique odds and ends, vivid details from extremely eccentric views on what was style and good form. It wasn’t that there were so many of them, but so many startling features to try and keep track of.
//It’s the cocktail party from hell.//
If the most eclectic people could /truly/ alter their bodies as they saw fit, they would probably be the creatures gathered around him now. Eike wondered briefly what Homunculus had looked like, before he’d been trapped in his current form. What sort of body had he favored?
Only one of them really looked human - no wings, no glass skin - though because of it she unnerved Eike most of all. The woman’s long blonde hair was limp and thin, drizzling over her hair like pale, dead snakes. The cold-blooded edge continued with the curving, sinuous way she moved, the way her spine tipped and her neck arched when she was still. Watching the rest of the room tumble around with cold, dead eyes, much more pupil than iris, taking in everything around her.
She was wearing a man’s business suit, much too bulky for her thin form, the blue and white striped undershirt rumpled and turned up at the cuffs. Her tongue was both split and pierced. Eike wondered if something like that was really possible, watching the metal stud wink slightly in the light, the ends of her tongue tapping absently against one another.
“You’re the reason we’re here, aren’t you? You’re the cause of all of this.”
The djinn had been watching him, he just hadn’t noticed until now. Most of the others had ignored him entirely. She spoke into an unexpected silence, and all eyes turned toward him. Eike leaned back nervously. Her voice was a low, dead growl, like some ancient bellows being slowly squeezed. He couldn’t imagine what type of deals she could make, the kinds of people who would choose to deal with her. The woman took a step forward, and Eike nearly fell backward over the pillar behind him.
“Leave him be.” Homunculus’ words were followed by a string of sounds, snarling but also smooth - Eike could hear syllables, even though he couldn’t understand them any further. It must have been her name.
//I’ve got to get him to teach me, one of these days.// It would probably take a century or two, but hey, he had time to spare.
The djinn’s tone had been quiet, almost disinterested, red eyes watching her calmly - but the woman stepped back quickly, giving Eike a last, disdainful glance. The rest of the djinni quickly returned to their own conversations, subdued murmurs quickly returning to the full roar of confrontation.
//Just how powerful are you, Homunculus?//
“Well, I’m certainly glad I had a hand in all of this.”
Eike was getting a little dizzy, trying to keep track of everyone at once, and at first he had no idea who had spoken to him. The djinn appeared out of nowhere, leaping onto Homunculus’s bookshelves, sending volumes flying as he stretched out comfortably. Homunculus glared darkly, and Eike finally realized that he recognized the voice.
“You! You’re the one I spoke to in the alley.”
“So you did manage to keep yourself alive, /and/ save our darling leader.” Homunculus rankled silently. Eike thought the djinn still smirking proudly at him was at once very, very brave and incredibly stupid. “Good show.”
It was the same creature he had spoken to before, except now the djinn had taken a much more different form, almost feline save for a distinct lack of fur - maybe something more like a bulldog.
//A bulldog flung into the grille of a speeding truck... face-first.//
“Ugly, am I?”
Eike couldn’t think of a polite way to say yes, /couldn’t/ say no, and finally just nodded weakly. The creature barked out a laugh.
“I was going for ugly, actually. The human I found was very eccentric, with quite a wild wish. He certainly had been biding his time, waiting for something like me.”
The djinn kicked off a few more books with his back paws, just for spite. Eike winced, wondered what might happen if he and Homunculus started trading blows in such a small area. A sigh, somewhere off his right, and pale gray wings rustled in the air, rising and flexing out as Dielle stood up to address the small crowd.
“So, what are we going to do?”
Eike wasn’t sure how that started a new argument, but all of a sudden the entire room was shouting, conversation quickly degenerating back to that other tongue of theirs, which always sounded angry anyway. The winged djinn flashed a smile in his direction, raising her voice above the crowd.
“Talk in their language, for the human’s sake.”
“I /said/, I don’t see why this is any concern of ours. We certainly didn’t cause your problems.” The snooty sentiment came from a coat rack - well, not really, but the djinn did seem made up of equal parts spindly arms, legs and a hat - a walking stick trying to pass itself off as a banker.
“You wouldn’t care, would you? The barest suggestion of conflict and you cower down and beg for mercy.” Eike didn’t expect the sentiment to come from the tall, gauzy creature near the corner of the room, especially not in such a low, raspy voice.
“You should talk.”
A cry from the other corner of the room, and Eike heard Homunculus sigh, the djinn closing his eyes as he tipped his head back in resignation. It hadn’t been ten minutes, and Eike could already see the pattern in this argument. He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to have been a part of it for eons. The problem with being immortal was clear enough, that everyone could keep track of everything that had been said for far too long a time, faults piling on faults, stretching back to eternity.
“All right, that’s ENOUGH!” Dielle roared above the din, glowering all around, the tips of her wings nearly smacking a few other djinni as she turned back and forth.
“Watch the wings, girl!”
“Don’t you /even/ start with me.” She snarled back. “May I remind you all, Atropos nearly handed my head back to me, and she /did/ kill my human, and you may all be impossibly annoying, but your attitudes will not protect you, not from her. We’re dealing with something much older than us, and easily as powerful.”
“So what do you suggest we do?”
“We attack.” The room went silent, though Homunculus spoke calmly, plainly. “We declare war, we meet on a common battlefield, and we attack. If we can swallow our pride enough to send a cordial greeting, she probably won’t think twice before accepting.”
“Declare our intent? Why not just give her our strategy, or roll over and surrender now?”
Ruby red eyes flashed brightly, Homunculus much more angry than he had been letting on.
“What are you going to do? Trick her? What can you offer her that she won’t simply take? What ploy won’t she immediately meet with distrust? She is no human, she will not play that game. Alone, we are powerless, and she will crush us without a second thought, one at a time, as she already has attempted. The longer we do not attack, the crazier she becomes, the more thirsty for her vengeance. No one will be safe. No one.”
It probably helped, Eike thought, that Homunculus didn’t seem all that fond of his own plan, willing to put up with the rest of them simply for victory’s sake.
“It’s going to take all of our power together, and though it may seem impossible, we’re going to have to get along to win this war.”
A moment of silence, enough that Eike thought Homunculus’ speech might have done the trick.
“Well, I’m certainly not standing in the front lines!”
“Like hell you’re not!”
“Will you please shut up?!”
“I don’t want to decide this here, it’s too small.”
“I’m not going to your realm!”
“Do you have a problem with it?! As if you’re one to talk!”
Eike stifled a laugh. Homunculus, obviously considering the benefits of simply killing them all, muttered a soft curse instead, massaging one temple with stiff, frustrated fingertips.
---------------------
The argument eventually spun out into some nonsense about realms, how the final decisions would need to be made somewhere less crowded, where everyone could have a little time to breathe. It was a considerate sentiment, except that it didn’t actually make sense/ Before Eike could blink twice, though, he was vanishing along with the rest of them, ended up with his feet thunking sharply against wooden floorboards, staring up at yellowed lace curtains.
“... the hell?”
“I found it while I was wandering, a bit out of my usual way, almost as if I’d been drawn toward it.” The knobby, sticklike djinn had turned from stuffy to maudlin in an instant. “I don’t know how it came to be, but this house somehow was trapped in time. I haven’t found any people, it must have been abandoned.”
Eike glanced out a window, onto a long, flat plan that extended in every direction, the sky a flat gray, the land a strange, dusty color. The only other thing to see was a tree, caught somewhere in the last throes of its existence, withered and twisted all out of shape. He quickly looked away, though the interior really wasn’t any less disturbing. Whomever had lived here, wherever it had been, had gotten out in a hell of a hurry. The table was still set for a meal, a place setting for three, napkins folded carefully on the plates. Eike even thought he could hear the radio, softly whining static from behind a closed door.
“No people?”
“None. Atropos won’t come here either, as I said, I stumbled upon this place entirely by accident. It’s a dead zone in time.” The other djinni were wandering into the massive living room, muttering here and there, a little less irate with the chance to spread out a little. “In a little while, it will be destroyed, swept away - all these kinds of places are - so I always come here, to the moment just before. I enjoy it ever so much, don’t you?” The art of it - ‘in medias res,’ is that what you humans say?”
Eike made a polite, noncommittal sound - he thought it was creepy as hell, but there wasn’t any way to make that sound appreciative. The djinn moved on after a moment, obviously thinking he was more than a little dense. Eike felt a touch at the small of his back, surprisingly supportive for such a minimal gesture.
“I think he’s crazy too. It isn’t just because you’re human.”
Homunculus looked up at him, just as Eike looked down at himself, ragged, dirty clothes spotted here and there with his own blood. He didn’t really want to spend any more time with the other djinn, knew there was nothing he could add to their plans, nothing to do but sit dumbfounded... and hell, he /had/ something to do.
“You think this place has a bathroom?”
-------------------------
“Where’s your human?”
“Cleaning himself up a bit.” Homunculus raised an eyebrow as Dielle just stared blankly. “You didn’t think he really looked so bad on purpose?”
“I just figured... wait. You mean he’s got to - all the /time/?! Like every day? Ick, no wonder they’re so grumpy.” Dielle patted the edges of her wings, much preferring the expedience of just not getting dirty in the first place. She flashed a bright, teasing smile. “You look good. You sounded good in there too, with that little speech.”
“All things considered.” Homunculus smiled thinly, listening to the beam creak as Dielle’s slight weight settled beside him. He cut his eyes at her, when she didn’t continue.
“I thought you’d be more angry about all of this.”
“You’re the one who’s a stick in the mud, not me.” Dielle grinned, eyes flashing with her usual rebellious pride. “So, your human is the cause of all this, and yet you haven’t destroyed him?”
“I can’t. It’s against the rules.”
Dielle snorted, staring at him, the disbelief plain on her face.
“You, speaking of rules. You.” She studied him closely. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“That he’s not just mine, not anymore.” It hurt to admit, enough to make him flinch, just a little. “It goes both ways now, between us.”
He heard her wings rise, and she cursed softly in amazement.
“Again I say - you? Wow. Of all of us, I never... wow. I heard a rumor, some of the other djinn were talking about it.”
Homunculus frowned. “Eike spoke to one of them. I know who it was... I’ll destroy him, I swear it.” Dielle chuckled, the furious snarl was as much the truth as it was unlikely - if they all followed through on those sorts of promises, no djinn would be left standing.
“I thought you’d be gloating more, Dielle.”
She made a soft, musing sound. “Enjoying your defeats never really entertained me. I’m not really the jealous type.” She frowned slightly, hands flexing against the brick wall she sat on.
“So... what is it like?”
Red eyes narrowed. “Annoying.” Homunculus sighed when she giggled. “I thought I’d been... I thought I’d done everything, everything that was worth doing, that I knew anything that was important enough to understand. I don’t believe in surprises.”
“If he’s managed to do that to you, I’m certainly for him, then. You need someone to kick you around a bit, you’re too damn stuck in your ways.” Dielle paused. “He does look a bit tattered around the edges, though. Did you do that?”
“It’s too much travel in time, too abruptly. It does that to them.”
Dielle was surprised. “Atropos is trying to kill him too? Well, she’s certainly not thinking small, is she?”
“No, not her. The creature... the body she has, it wasn’t an empty vessel. The other... Dopple was her name, and it may be the reason Atropos has gone so mad, trying to subjugate her presence, or even attempting work around it.” Homunculus crossed his arms, finally giving a voice to what he’d long suspected. “I think he’s safe now. Safe as any of them are, anyway.”
He and Dielle had never been friends, but they’d never been enemies either, which put her above most everyone else still debating over what Homunculus had already told them they would have to do.
//It’s going to be one hell of a fight.//
“Everyone will follow you, if you give the word. They all trust you, even if some of them don’t like you very much.” Dielle’s words were soft, she wasn’t looking at him but seemed to be reading his mind.
“I know that.”
“You’re not going to take the human?”
He didn’t want to answer that. If Eike had only been a little less smart, less sharp, less bold, it would have been so much easier to make a decision. Of course, if he had been a little less anything, their paths probably never would have crossed.
Dielle finally turned, when he didn’t answer her. “What are you going to do?”
“The only thing I can.”
---------------------
He found Eike standing on the porch behind the house, leaning against the wall, with a distant look in his eyes. It was anyone’s guess what he was thinking about - the course of his life so far, or Atropos... maybe even the two of them, the strange situation they had stumbled into.
//I never should have... done that. Kissed him. Any of it.//
He didn’t like feeling so vulnerable, regardless if Eike would use it against him or not. It didn’t help any, that as uncomfortable as he felt, he also liked the way the human looked standing there. Thoughtful and strong, with those eyes that were always studying, always so aware, seeing things more completely than most humans. Eyes that had seen him for more than anyone else ever had.
After a moment, Eike noticed him, the pensive thoughts replaced with an equally endearing attention, patient and curious. The human noticed him, nothing more, not wanting anything, not needing anything but his company.
//He means more to me than I do to him.// The thought was disturbing, too disturbing. Homunculus vowed not to have it again.
“Did you need me for something, Homunculus?”
“You cleaned up.” The djinn bit the edge of his tongue, extremely tired of the default statements his brain had started using, no less incriminating than his baffled thoughts, making him no less the fool. He was lucky that Eike either didn’t notice, or was too polite to show it.
“Yeah, I did.” Eike picked at the edge of a sleeve, had been relieved that whomever the inhabitants of this house had been, one of them had been about his size. He looked vastly different, dark slacks and white, button-up shirt, along with his wet hair, slicked back into a ponytail gave him the air of a lawyer, or bookkeeper at least. “I think I need a better outfit, if we’re going to be combating the forces of darkness anytime soon.”
Homunculus chuckled, just slightly, though some part of him cringed at the words. “Funny you should mention that...”
“What are they doing now? The other djinn?”
“Picking out forms for combat. Even if Atropos won’t play by all our rules, it’s a matter of pride for them. It’s probably meaningless, but they won’t fight without it.” He sighed. “Idiots.”
“Worried they might be lowering my opinion of you?”
Eike smiled at the expected sarcastic glance, the open disbelief.
“You never know, Homunculus. One of these days you might think I’m important.”
“You are important.” The djinn winced. Damn, that had come out much too fast. The words held too much weight, even if they had been intended as an offhand comment. They stared at each other for a long moment.
“This is all you humans do all day, isn’t it. Awkward silences.”
Eike laughed, and Homunculus smiled back despite himself, though he still felt that familiar twinge in his spine, something like fear, as the human kept watching him, the smile changing slightly.
“What?”
“Put your hand up.”
-----------------------
No mistaking it, the half-second of fear, even amidst his curiosity, as Homunculus slowly put his palm to Eike’s. So easy, to throw the creature off guard. Eike had never thought it would be possible, let alone easy.
He leaned forward a bit, tilting his hand to study the contrast. The djinn’s pale fingertips tapered off just below his last knuckle, just like a doll’s, so thin and delicate. Hot, though, the skin smooth and hard, but as warm as if he were holding a cup of coffee.
“What are we doing, exactly?” The question in the djinn’s voice, the uncertain worry made Eike laugh.
“It’s all right. I just... I don’t know, just curious.”
//Flirting.// Whatever. Eike thought he would have set himself on fire, had he been convinced it would give him a few laughs. He frowned, watching Homunculus’ hand move, knuckles rising up slightly.
“I thought you didn’t have bones. You’re hollow, right?” The djinn nodded, followed his gaze, and frowned too.
“Interesting. I don’t think those should be there.”
Eike snorted in disbelief. “What, you never /noticed/? You’ve been in this body for how long?”
The djinn pulled his hand away, still staring at it, flexing his fingers. “Too long, and I’ve spent much of it not trying to think about it - certainly not about the details.” He glanced up, red eyes searching. “It’s a beautiful cage. You said it was beautiful... but it still is a cage. Of course, without it I suppose we never would have crossed paths, would we?”
Spoken so easily, offhandedly, but Eike was shocked, the words repeating in his mind - had Homunculus just said he was worth being imprisoned for, that being able to meet him was worth such a handicap?
So far, this entire meeting had certainly been one of their better ones, though Eike was still left with the feeling that it was building up to something. Homunculus had come to find him for a reason.
The pale creature sighed softly, one hand against his temple, recognizing some pain. “You’re the one falling apart, and here I am acting a fool. I doubt you would even care, if I hadn’t said anything.”
An abrupt switch, both in topic and mood. Anger, or frustration, Eike could hear it - what had he said wrong? Red eyes noticed his perplexed expression, and Homunculus held up a hand.
“You shouldn’t look at me like that, Eike. You’ve done everything right. You’ve done too much right.”
“I’m not falling apart.” He wasn’t so certain of that, not all the time, but there was something else, something much more serious that Homunculus wasn’t saying. A decision the djinn was about to make, or maybe already had. Something Eike was sure he wouldn’t like. “... and I do care. How can I say if I would if you didn’t, or I do because you do. All I know is, I /do/ care.”
“You know what happens. You know what you become. It was my fault.”
“It won’t happen like that again, though. It wasn’t me. You said it yourself, it was another me and...” Eike wished he had the djinn’s ability with words, instead of knowing already that Homunculus would win whatever argument they were having. “It wasn’t you, or me, not really.”
“It will happen again, or something like it. I can’t take you with us, not to fight, it’s far too dangerous. I won’t watch you die, not by her hand, not where I can’t bring you back. Bring you back... my, what a strange world I’ve made for you.”
Homunculus laughed slightly, though nothing was funny and he sounded more tired than amused.
“You deserve to be with your own kind, Eike. I deserve... not to be so selfish. Not if I can claim to care.”
//Own kind-// Eike was angry, ready to challenge those words, when he realized that he hadn’t responded, couldn’t speak. The angry words were caught somewhere between his throat and the air, stuck.
//What..?// A hand to his throat, though he knew that would do nothing. He stared up shocked into Homunculus’s eyes. The djinn almost looked regretful.
“If I let you speak, you would stop me.” A small smile. “It’s cheating, really. I do know that. It isn’t fair, when I /know/ what you meant, what you want. I’ve been doing it so long, though, it’s rather become habit.”
//What - no!// Eike could feel his legs give out, he swiftly sagged to his knees. It was becoming more and more difficult to see past the darkness hedging at the corners of his eyes. //No, damn it. No!//
“She might be strong, but Atropos still can’t be in two places at once. I’ll destroy Dopple. I’ll stop them both, and you’ll be safe.”
Eike’s eyes widened, he could hear the djinn murmur, /felt/ the thoughts spinning off inside of his mind, unraveling...
//No, you can’t... don’t do it. I can help, you can’t...//
Eike blinked furiously, struggling to focus, but the world had vanished to darkness in front of his eyes, he couldn’t feel the ground beneath him, nothing but a vague, warm sensation, someone’s fingertips briefly touching his cheek.
“Don’t think this means I don’t trust you.”
He knew the voice - but he couldn’t remember who was talking.
//N-no!//
“Goodbye, Eike.”
----------------------
“Sir? Sir?”
“Mmh?” It seemed like he was waking up via pry bar, fighting his way out of something more like concrete than sleep.
“Sir, are you all right?” A waitress, staring at him worriedly as he woke. No, it was more nervousness than worry, she probably thought he was some drunk vagrant. It wasn’t the first time, either, so who could blame Dana for being so nervous?
//Dana?! Who the hell..?// He didn’t even know a Dana, so how did he know this girl didn’t look like her?
//How did I know... wait. Where am I?//
He glanced sharply around, taking in the entire bar in a moment of utterly bizarre déjà vu, everything familiar and at the same time completely foreign, as if he really ought to know this place. The room wasn’t crowded, but the group of men clustered near the door didn’t seem friendly enough to ask any questions, even glaring at him as he watched them for just a moment too long. Eike grimaced, letting out a short, irritated sigh - no. Eike? How did he know his name was Eike?
“Sir?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m fine.” He tried to seem reassuring, relieved when she nodded, smiling. “I guess I was just pretty tired. Sorry about that.”
“Coffee might help.” He nodded, trying hard not to stare, still trying to convince himself she wasn’t Dana, whoever Dana was.
“Sir?” Good, she probably no longer thought he was drunk, his pauses likely indicative of some mild mental illness. Of course, there was no telling, she might be right.
“Yes, please.”
It wasn’t until she’d walked away that Eike realized he might not even have the money to pay her. A quick check produced a wallet - all right, so he was Eike. He had an address he didn’t recognize and enough money to pay for coffee - and then some. Eike cautiously replaced the bills, reaching for a paper that had been abandoned in a nearby chair. The first thing he checked was the date, most interested in the year though he wasn’t sure why it would matter.
It didn’t really matter what the year was, only that he wasn’t sure what he was expecting to see, that after he read it he couldn’t tell whether it felt right or not. Why would it feel differently? /How/ could it feel different? Besides, losing hours or days was one thing, but years?
Maybe it was time to see if anyone who looked like him had been abducted by aliens recently. Eike laughed a little to himself, as he realized it really did seem like the most plausible explanation.
He gave the waitress a grateful smile when she returned with his coffee, winced at the bitterness when he sipped it, but refused to put anything in it. Maybe the acrid burn would help jog his memory somehow.
“Finally, /there/ you are!”
Eike gaped, as the door swung wide open, and he walked into the bar.