Involution

Satoshi had tried everything to distract himself. He had watched
TV, but the channels were having trouble with the ever-strengthening storm.
There were more interruptions than running program. He wasn’t in the mood
to watch a DVD. So he had turned to reading, almost instinctively coming
back to the target of this night’s operation.

The Ferris Stone.

Satoshi settled back on the couch, the huge tome he had borrowed from
Daikii resting on thighs, leafing through it. Krad was a warm weight in
the back of his mind. He was semi-attentive, mostly silent.

Reading through the ancient pages, Satoshi suddenly frowned. Alarm
coursed through him, nudging Krad, and the demon roused a little.

//Sato?//

"I’m not sure," he murmured.

He sought out another chapter, read the text, and the alarm doubled.

"No..."

//Satoshi?//

"It’s the wrong stone..."

//What?//

"The museum doesn’t have the Ferris Stone! They mislabeled it!" Satoshi
felt his heart miss a beat and his stomach clench. "They took it for something
else."

Krad moved forward, almost right next to him. //What is it?//

"The Seal of Iben. It’s a highly dangerous but very beautiful gem,
and it looks like the Ferris Stone. Oh my god! Krad, they’re in danger!"

Satoshi struggled to put the tome aside and get out of the blanket.
Outside the storm was howling against the houses.

//Dark’s not stupid// Krad argued.

"They don’t expect it!"

//They didn’t expect a lot of what they ran into in the past either.
Satoshi... calm down//

Satoshi fell back, shaking. He was still too weak and the medication
was leeching at his strength.

Minutes crawled by, turning into hours, and still nothing.

"It's taking too damn long!" Satoshi muttered, staring out the window
and seeing nothing but white.

//Calm down, Sato. They know what they're doing//

"No, they don't! I misjudged the danger of the Ferris Stone! Daisuke
has no idea about its true strength."

//Dark's with him. He will know//

Satoshi got off the couch and walked over to the bedroom, pulling out
winter clothes.

//Satoshi? What are you planning to do?//

"Go after them of course!"

He felt the prickle of the separation and suddenly looked into a pair
of furious, golden eyes. "You're not leaving in that condition!" Krad snapped.

"I am! Daisuke could be hurt! He could be in danger! He's long past
the appointed time, even with the spare time in case of complications!"

"You won't last a minute out there!" Krad told him firmly, snatching
the woolen pullover out of his hands.

Satoshi glared. "I won't wait any longer! You might not be worried,
but I am!"

"I am worried, but I'm also reasonable."

A snort answered that statement. "Right!" He grabbed for the sweater.
"I'm going."

"No," was the second denial, much harder now.

A strong but yet gentle hand pinned Satoshi against the wall and inhuman
eyes met the blue ones. Krad's features were a mix of determination and
anger.

"I won't let you leave, Sato. Even if I have to use force."

"But Daisuke…"

"Will be fine. He has a sensible head on his shoulders and Dark knows
his way around art. He will sense the danger, any shift in power, ripples
in the magic."

"Don't you worry about him at all? Don't you think he could be in over
his head?" Satoshi demanded.

The golden eyes darkened a little. "I do worry," Krad said after a
moment, his hand dropping away. "I do. But I also know him."

"What if your knowledge of him is proven wrong? What if they require
assistance? The cell phones aren't working and there's no means for them
to contact us," Satoshi insisted.

Krad sighed. "I'll go then."

"What?!"

"You stay here, I'll go and see if something happened," the demon explaine

"But…"

"Stay!"

Satoshi sighed and a fine tremor went through his still weak body.
"I could backseat ride…"

"No. I'm not using your body, Satoshi. You won't make it. I'm going
like this. It's no big deal, all right?"

Hikari met the firm, decisive gaze, then nodded. "Thank you, Krad."

He smiled a little. "You're welcome."

* * *

Krad wondered what had ridden him to go out in this weather. The answer
was simple: Satoshi. His host’s worries and fears had driven him to help.
Of course he had felt slivers of worry about Dark, too, but his other half
could take care of himself. He didn’t believe that the kaitou would be
taken out by something as insignificant as the Seal of Iben. It might be
powerful and dangerous, but the Second Hand of Time or the Link Pin of
Time had been, too. He had survived both. And the Link Pin of Time, the
sword, had hurt him badly.

Krad pushed that thought away. No, not the sword. The one swinging
the sword. The demon. Him.

Ducking his head against the sudden gust of wind, he gritted his teeth
and angled his wings to get a little lower. Clouds were churning overhead
and it got, if that was possible, even worse.

When the first hail started, Krad knew it had gotten worse. Ice rained
down on him, battering against his body, which was protected by his own
magic, and he muttered a curse under his breath. Just bit further. Across
the small stretch of forest and he would be there. The museum was in the
middle of nowhere, surrounded by nature.

The wind pushed him sideways and Krad struggled back on course. The
hail continued to pummel him and as he sank lower, he didn’t see the power
lines spanning across the compound.

One wing got caught.

He felt a crackling wave of electricity shoot through him.

Something ripped. Something burned. Something tore and broke. He gasped
in surprise.

And then he plummeted to the ground like a stone.

He didn't feel the branches of the trees breaking under his weight.

He didn't feel the tearing of ligaments and the breaking of bones.

He didn't feel the bone-jarring impact or heard the sizzle of magic
colliding with frozen earth.

* * *

Dark landed in the soft snow on the terrace, disturbing the fine powder
and sinking more than ankle deep into it. The snow fall throughout the
storm had been heavy and everywhere, the houses wore thick, fluffy covers
of the frosted water. Now, in the early dawn hours, it looked quiet and
peaceful. Sound was muffled and barely anyone was outside. Few people had
their lights on.

Hikari Satoshi was one of those who had apparently waited up.

Dark pushed open the unlocked terrace door and stepped into the pleasantly
warm home. He let his wings disappear and shook off a few excess flakes
of snow.

"Daisuke?"

The voice sounded rough and sleepy, and when Dark turned, he discovered
Satoshi curled up on the couch, a thick blanket drawn over him. He was
just now struggling to get up. Dark handed control back to his host and
Daisuke stepped toward his lover, smiling.

"Hey. You didn't have to wait up for us."

Slightly glazed blue eyes raked over his body and Daisuke frowned a
little at the worry and fear in those normally unruffled features.

"Sato?"

"Are you okay?" Satoshi demanded, coughing a little.

"Of course. Why shouldn't we be?"

"The Ferris Stone! I was wrong about it. It's not the Ferris Stone
at all. It was…"

"The Seal of Iben. We know. The moment Dark came close to it, we discovered
what it really was. Was no problem either. We sealed it properly. Got caught
in the worsening weather on our way back and decided to drop in on Mom
and Dad to wait out the worst of it. I would have called, but the phone
lines went dead. And there was a power outage not much later."

Satoshi nodded slowly, the tension just now leaving him. "Power's still
on here. I was so worried, Dai…"

Daisuke wrapped himself around his lover, holding him tight. "We're
fine. You know we went up against worse."

"Yeah." He laughed weakly. "Must be the cold."

"Probably."

Suddenly Satoshi pushed back and glanced around the room. "Krad…"

"Uh, what about him?"

"He… went looking for you."

~WHAT?~ Dark yelled in his Tamer's head and Daisuke winced.

~Less volume, okay?~

"Why?" he asked out loud.

"I… I wanted to go myself, to the museum… tell you about the Seal.
He did instead."

Daisuke scowled. "You're sick at home and you thought to go out there?
Damn, we really have to talk about responsibilities, Sato. But back to
Krad… we didn't see him. He must have arrived after the job was done."

"But he didn't return…"

"Maybe he waited out the worst of the storm, too."

~He would have returned by now~ Dark murmured.

Satoshi shook his head. "Something must have happened," he insisted.

~I'll go look for him~ Dark immediately said.

~You just sealed the Seal of Iben. That took some energy out of you~

~Mostly out of you, Dai. I leeched yours. I'm okay. Really~

Daisuke scowled more, but the tell-tale tingle of the separation already
coursed through him. Dark, wings out, stood in front of them, meeting Satoshi's
worried gaze. The young man was trying to suppress his coughs, but was
failing.

"I'll find him," he promised.

"How?" Satoshi asked.

"I can feel him, Satoshi. I always could. It's like a kind of background
noise…" The kaitou shrugged. "My own, personal radar."

"Be careful," Daisuke murmured.

"Hey, the weather's much improved. I bet Krad just got lost or something."
He grinned cheekily, trying to cheer up Hikari, but the blue eyes showed
only worry.

Dark didn't believe his other half had gotten disoriented and lost
his way. Krad was too good. And if he had made it to the museum, he would
have holed up somewhere and outwaited the storm, just like they had done.
He should have been back even before Daisuke and him.

Something had happened.

Damn.

He took off into the pre-dawn twilight and concentrated on the barely
perceptible hum in the back of his mind. Krad was alive, true. There was
little that could kill the demon. But injuries were another matter…