Of Music and Magic

DISCLAIMER: See chapter one, ect, yadda-yadda-yadda.



BETA: Sweet, kind, sexy and single Chris.



AUTHOR\'S NOTES: OOO! Lookie! A brand new chapter! This is the first time that anyone\'s seen it, other than my beta that is! Thanks for coming and I hope you enjoy it.



Reviews are met with great humility and humble grace. Please feed the author!







PART FOUR















Sterling took Aerune’s hand and led the blind man over to one of the bench that lined the wall of the building. The pair sat down and waited for the two Weiss assassins to join them. Aya motioned for Yohji to pick a seat then sat beside him.



“Okay,” Aya said. “You sound like you’ve worked for someone or some group that didn’t agree with your morals.”



“It’s not like that,” Sterling responded, drawing one knee up to his chest and wrapping his arms around it. “The group that we work for used to be part of Esstet. And now that we’ve got our freedom, we’re not going back to the way that they do things.”



“How did you get away from them?” Yohji asked. “I mean it’s not like they would just let people like you go.”



“Well, the man who is running the program now took over by force,” Aerune said, cuddling close to his partner.



“By force? How can you trust someone who took over by force?”



“Very simply,” Sterling took up the strand. “Daniel was raised by the program, well as much as possible. And the way the group worked only the strong survived and if you were strong enough, you could end up running the entire operation.”



“Did the government know what was going on?” Yohji asked. “I mean most governments don’t want anyone that powerful hiding in the wings.”



“Know about us?” Sterling sarcastically answered, “they funded the whole thing during the cold war. The CIA had jurisdiction over the project, but the director ran it without interference. The man who operated the whole package from the early fifties until Danny took over had been part of the project under the Nazis and carried on a lot of their traditions. The only one that he didn’t was the one that allowed the families of gifted children to live. He felt that the fewer distraction the kids had the better things would run.” He let that bit of information sink in.



“How do you get away with killing entire families?” Aya asked, sickened at the thought of the senseless slaughter.



“Go in and make it look like drug dealers or junkies tore up the place,” Aerune answered, his face very somber.



“Besides,” Sterling continued, “these things were done in the name of God and country. Even in small towns, it wasn’t too hard to create a bad name for the family in question. Thus was born the Phoenix Project.”



“Sounds like something they’d do,” Yohji murmured.



“I forgot the four of you do have some exposure to what Esstet is like.”



“Yeah, that we do. So, why do you follow this Danny person?”



“Because he’s just what the project needed: a strong person with good ideas and the smarts to realize that if we do away with the parents and siblings of the gifted children, we’re limiting the possibilities. Besides, he’s found a way to get the kids without having to kill anyone. I mean most parents are willing to give their kids to anyone that can help them.” Sterling gazed at the eldest two members of Weiss.



“Why is that?”



“Most kids with Gifts are a real pain in the ass. They can move things without touching them or are hearing voices in their heads or get mad and start fires with a thought or a million other different things. Can you imagine what it’s like for a normal to be dealing with an untrained, Gifted person? Some of these kids are nearly half insane by the time that we get them into the program and their parents think that they’re possessed. And we give them a chance at a normal life. There’s even one of the higher ‘Powers’ that can burn a Gift away if the child won’t use it in the right manner or doesn’t want it.”



“Shit, that’s cruel.”



“True, but if Brad Crawford had been a part of our project instead of being trained by the European branch of Esstet then you wouldn’t have to worry about Schwarz. They would be working for you instead of against you.” Sterling smiled into Aya’s eyes. “Now Mr. Fujimiya, how about you and I getting down to training? Don’t worry Aerune will take care of Mr. Kuduo and that way we’ll get more done. Divide, conquer and all that rubbish.”



“All right. What do we do?”



“This will be an exercise in self-discipline.”



“We can forget Yohji understanding it then,” Aya retorted.



“Excuse me,” Aerune broke in. “And just who was it that slammed me head-first into the sliding door of the van?”



“That was different, Omi’s life was in danger and you were in the way.” A thought occurred to the redhead. “Speaking of that night, what the hell happened to Omi’s wound? We found an almost fatal amount of blood in the seat cushions, but the wound was mostly healed.”



“Exactly, it was Healed,” Sterling’s articulation of the word stressed its importance. “‘Rune Healed it with his music. There are certain things that we will be going over in the next few weeks as part of your training and all will be explained. I promise”



“All right then, let’s get started.” Aya smiled over at his lover, trying to squelch the surge of jealousy the threatened to overcome him. Yohji had been monogamous in the nine months that he had been sharing Aya’s bed, but that didn’t always mean anything. The golden-haired man’s libido was the stuff that legends were made of and the frail beauty of the man who would be training him might be more than he could resist. The odd pair walked slowly over to the other side of the room, Aerune’s hand tucked tightly into Yohji’s elbow.



“Don’t worry about them,” Sterling said, smiling at the slightly shorter man. “ ‘Rune isn’t the type to step between partners in a serious relationship.”



“And why is that?”



“ ‘Rune’s Gift is Bardic,” he held up his hands to forestall any questions. “That means that he’s a projecting Empath. But along with the projecting form, he also has the receiving kind.”



“Which means?”



“Which means that he can feel everything that an Ungifted person is feeling. He’s also a telepath and that’s why he can use any member of the group’s eyes to see through.”



“That’s how he managed it!” Aya and Yohji said at the same time.



“Yes, that’s how I did it,” Aerune chuckled. “Now, Mr. Kuduo, pay attention. We’ve got a lot of work to do.” He drew the oaken-haired man’s attention and began the slow process of teaching him to understand things that were easily misunderstood.









@ @ @ @ @







Schuldig waited for the kittens to make a return appearance. But as darkness slipped over the landscape it appeared that they weren’t going to re-emerge from the backside of the oversized house any time soon. His cell phone began vibrating in his pocket, startling the breath out of him. He had forgotten the damned thing was on and in stealth mode. Thank god for that one, if it had rung he might have blasted it and then been sorry for the lack of convenience.



“Schuldig,” he murmured into the phone.



“Schu, where the hell are you?” Crawford’s voice came across the line, annoyance dripping from every word.



“I’ve managed to trace the ones that I told you about, Mein Captain,” he answered, his pleasure noticeable in every word. “And you’ll never guess who showed up dressed in their best welcoming clothes.”



“Weiss.” Crawford pounced on the statement.



“Ja wold. Give the man a plushie! He got it right on the first guess.”



“What would Weiss be doing there?” the dark-haired man mused. “And more importantly, why didn’t our man inside Kritiker tell us anything about it?”



“Your guess is as good as mine. What are my orders?”



“Give me directions on how to get there and then stay and make sure that the kittens don’t leave before we arrive, understood?”



“Heard and understood,” Schuldig responded. He quickly and succinctly gave the Schwarz leader the instructions on how to get to the large dwelling in the suburbs. Crawford hung up with a loud click in his ear and the flame-haired man went back to watching the building.



Lights lit the backyard, but very little illumination showed on the front of the house. The front of the wood and concrete structure fell into semi-shadow as the sky became darker and the streetlights flickered into life. No burglar lighting glowed from the well-tended beds of plants in front of the windows. No automatic safety lights sputtered on at the same time as the streetlights; a sign that whoever lived here rested sure in their power or that they were totally and completely naïve to the types of crimes that could be committed in the gloaming. He stepped back into the darkest part of the shadows and lit up a cigarette. Waiting wasn’t something that he enjoyed or excelled at.



By the time he had finished savoring his fourth cigarette, the clove flavor and scent clinging to his clothes and breath, the rest of Schwarz had shown up. Crawford sat alone in the front seat of the BMW, while Nagi perched on the backseat with Farfarello’s leash gripped tightly in one small fist. The young telekinetic’s serious face glowed luminously in the growing darkness.



“ ‘Bout time you got here,” Schuldig growled, stepping out of the dimness with his signature quickness.



“Schuldig,” Crawford responded, not bothering to turn his head. “You know that it takes time to cross the city, especially at this time of night. Now, what’s been happening?”



“Nothing so far,” the redhead reported, a stream of clove-scented smoke drifting into the car with his words. “The kittens went in and they haven’t come out, yet. There’s only one entrance that I can see and their vehicle is still sitting right where they left it. There’s been no sign of life from this way, but the back of the house looks very well lit up.” He thought over the events of the last few hours, trying to remember everything that might be of importance. “I did see two of the four that I told you about enter the premises. That huge mother of a bike belongs to the older, dark-haired man. Other than that and the fact that I still can’t read them, nothing has changed.”



“So, what we have is four unknowns and the four kittens all snug and tight in there,” Crawford thought aloud. “We know that we can take on the kittens with no trouble, but the other four could, and most likely will, be trouble. But if we take them on, going in and attacking without warning, we may be able to nullify their abilities before they can bring them into play.” He nodded his head and allowed a rare, sharp smile to cross his face. “That’s what we’ll do then. Attack now, before they have time to figure out that we’re out here. I want at least one of them alive, is that understood?”



“Which direction should we go in?” Nagi softly asked. Brad’s eyes went blank, a sure sign that the Sight had overtaken his normal vision.



“We’ll enter through the front door,” the psychic said, returning to them. “I see failure if we try to go in the back way. There’s something back there that we can’t fight against. But if we use the front door, it’s totally lacking in special protections and we’ll be able to circumvent safeguards and sneak in.”



“In other words,” Nagi said, eyes glowing with pleasure. “We’ll be able to bypass their firewall and hack straight into the mainframe.”



Schuldig ruffled the boy’s hair. Only their resident computer genius would think of things in that manner. They really had to get the poor child out more. Bypassing the firewall, indeed. The child lived, breathed and dreamed computers; maybe they should work on capturing someone close to Prodigy’s own age for him to play with. The thought of a young, nubile little thing playing house with the sweet-faced boy standing near him sent a arrow of hunger through the flame-haired man’s body.



: Bring it under control, Schu,: Brad’s voice broke through his musing. : You’re leaking your perversions to all of us. We need to be focused on the mission at the moment. I do agree with you though, we need to find someone near to Nagi’s age for him to play with. Perhaps we’ll be able to snatch Bombay or one of the younger ones that you told me about. But for now, keep your mind on the operation. There’s no room for error here.:



: Yes, oh great one. I’ll be a good boy and start paying attention to what we’re doing. Or at least I’ll do it for the moment.: He flashed the grim countenanced man a thousand watt, sardonic smile.



“Nag-sters,” he said, taking the initiative and starting to direct this little excursion.



“Yes, Schu?”



“Why don’t you try your gift and see if you can get the door open before we get there, ‘kay?”



The serious child looked at Crawford, wanting the leader’s approval before starting anything. “Crawford,” he asked, his voice quivering with indecision.



“Do it,” the spectacled man ordered. “Good thinking Schu. It’s nice to know that your brains don’t always reside in your balls.”



“Bite me, Crawford,” he growled. Sometimes their fearless leader could be a real jackass and he pushed the temperamental redhead to the very edges of his patience. Granted, there were times that he didn’t think much beyond who would be warming his bed, but at least he wasn’t fixated on a cherry Popsicle. For some unknown reason, Oracle found one “Aya” Ran Fujimiya utterly fascinating and would do anything to possess the crimson-haired beauty. Schuldig suppressed a shudder at the thought of the icy, controlled man who led Weiss.



With minds firmly linked by the meld that Mastermind had created, the four members of Schwarz strolled across the quiet street and to the front door. As they reached their objective, the lock on the heavy, steel security clicked and the door gaped slightly open. Oracle smiled down at Prodigy in encouragement; the young boy needed the extra praise and petting when he used his gift. A thrill of pleasure resounded over the bonds that connected the four, causing Mastermind to smile slyly at the young one walking next to him. Yes, they definitely needed to get Prodigy a playmate. Thinking of themselves and each other in the names given them by Esstet kept them focused on the “mission”, on the job that they had come here to perform.



: Oracle,: Mastermind spoke privately into the leader’s mind.



: Hm?:



: I think that we should work on capturing the younger two of this group. You know that the young ones can be controlled and if we have supremacy over them then the others may just give up without a fight.:



: Point taken. Let’s plan on that.: They crept quietly into the rapidly darkening house, the bluish-white gloaming working in their favor. The sound of American hard rock echoed through the house, masking any unintentional sounds that they might make. And over the screaming guitars and throbbing bass came the sound of young, male voices.



“Shit! I love this song,” came one, the voice breaking on the high-note.



“Ah, Jet,” Omi said, laughter in his voice. “That’s what you said ‘bout the last few songs.”



“Well, it wouldn’t be any good to have songs that I didn’t wanna hear, right?” The song changed, piano and acoustic guitar setting up the next song. “OO American Pie! I really love this song!” Young, male laughter filled the house, creating an enjoyable undercurrent to the song blaring out of the brightly lit room.



Oracle stepped into the light-filled, food-scented room and raised his Browning .45. The silenced gun went off with a quiet puff and the under-counter CD player exploded in a shower of sparks and plastic fragments.



“Ah, shit!” Jet exclaimed, “Sterling’s gonna be really pissed when he see this.”



“Jet! Shields!” Amber shouted, throwing up his best defenses around both Ken and himself. The air around the four young men shimmered in the warm light from the overhead illumination and the hands of the two unknown boys glowed with tightly controlled power. A nebulous whisper trickled down the bond between the members of Schwarz, a warning that one of the teenagers had used telepathy to warn the others wherever they were hiding.



: Crawford!: Schuldig lashed out mentally. : Those two are talented. And I don’t mean Hidaka and Tsukiyono either:



: As if I couldn’t tell,: the dark-haired man snapped back. The sight of obvious power rattled him a bit. These two had Gifts that he had heard of, but never seen and the counters were beyond his knowing. Esstet hadn’t prepared his team for a run in with “true” magic.



The door to the backyard flew open and the man that Schuldig described as the leader of the group strode in, his face set and power oozing from him like honey. A few quick, sharp words were spoken and the Gifts that Schwarz used to overpower their opponents faded into nothing.



“Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” the man spoke, his voice icier than a day in January.



“We thought that we’d drop in and welcome you to Tokyo,” Schuldig drawled, sarcastically.



“Really?” he answered back. “I don’t think that we need Esstet’s form of welcome here. The four of you can let yourselves out.”



“I don’t believe that’s going to happen anytime soon,” Crawford said, pointing his weapon at the man. “We have orders to figure out what you’re doing here and to prevent the Kittens from learning anything that would be beneficial to them. And as you know, Esstet can be a very bad enemy.”



“And what are we?” the dark-haired boy asked. “Chopped liver?”



The smaller man that entered the house with the leader began to sing, his song not focused on Crawford, Schuldig or Naoe. The words were filled with a longing that couldn’t be explained and seemed to carry with them the coolness of the Atlantic Ocean or the Irish Sea. The lonely call of a solitary seabird came out of the very words. Crawford didn’t understand the language, but recognized it …. Gaelic.



Farfarello responded to the music with tears. Without saying anything to his associates he whirled and ran out of the building.



“I think you’d better go after him,” the silver-haired man said, his song coming to an abrupt end. “I don’t think that your bosses would appreciate having to hide another one of his killing sprees, do you?”



“Damn!” Crawford swore and motioned for the other two to follow the Irish man out. “Don’t think that this is the end. We’ll be back when you least expect it.”



“I’m sure you will,” the leader responded. “And you can be that you won’t find us to be such an easy target again.” He turned his attention to the ruined CD player. “I’ll send you the bill for the new CD player. And I’ll expect that you to reimburse me for it. If you’re going to play, you’ll have to pay.”



“Of course. One last thing before I leave.”



“Yes?”



“I’d like to know the name of the man that bested me.”



“You can call me Sterling. The Bard is Aerune. And the twins are Jet and Amber. And if you think you can gain control over us with our names, think again. We never use our real names and you’ll find that not even your hacker can fight his way through the wards put up on the computers back home.”



Crawford snarled at the man raising his gun. A rapid-fire set of words had his gun glowing red-hot and it fell from scorched fingers. One of the younger ones held his right hand up, the last two fingers folded under and a few lingering tongues of flame flickered around his upright fingers and thumb. Crawford swore under his breath and escaped through the open front door.



“Well, that was interesting,” Aerune dryly said.