Another Earth

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Niall looked over at the man that was once again having a conversation with a bird. He chuckled lightly at the silliness. He was one to talk though. He had conversations with the little one to and he made little bird noises. Niall was always one quick to criticize others. He did find the trait the man displayed kind of.... sweet. This man was strange beyond measure but he seemed so innocent. It had been a long time since he'd seen someone like this stranger and they were usually children. It was refreshing that there were still people out there that weren't touched yet by the harsh realities of life. He wished he could be as carefree as Keisuke. He didn't want to worry all the time. He shook his head and finished packing his things before he hoisted his bag up onto his shoulders again.

"Yup. We are going to head towards the village to grab supplies," he answered. When he turned to look at the man, he was already walking in the wrong direction. He couldn't help but laugh. "No, no. You are going in the wrong direction. Follow me. Honestly, how did you survive out here by yourself? You would have been walking in circles," he grinned. He motioned for the man to follow him as he began the trek towards the disturbed village.

Little Eos herself was chirping happily at her parents. She wove between them and circled their feet, occasionally nipping at their clothes. She was full of energy this morning and she refused to be picked up. She wanted to walk like her caregivers. Besides, being on the ground allowed her to play with them. She almost tripped Niall a couple of times and he had to stumble to keep himself from kicking the bird or falling over. "Eos! Careful! You are going to make me step on you!" he chided. Eos chattered at him and moved out of the way as Niall tried to pick her up and end her chase. He rolled his eyes as she hurried to start circling around Keisuke and nip at his shoe laces again. She really was aiming to make one of them fall over wasn't she? Silly little bastard.

"All right, Keisuke, we are going to have to be careful when we head into town. I feel... something off. We may encounter trouble so stay on your toes and don't give any indication of being 'strange'. We are going to have to hide Eos some way. Probably best to put her in our clothes. Your clothes look more open. I think your overcoat would do a good job. Make sure she doesn't peak out or anything. Might get a bit hot but you can't let her out. The town will go nuts and I don't want to deal with a mob of people trying to get at her."

Kei felt his eyebrow quirk in surprise when the boy suddenly laughed, he didn’t think he had seen the boy smile yet, let alone laugh. He felt a soft rush of blush over his cheeks as he then realized that Niall was laughing at his inept ability to even lead them in the right direction let alone survive as a human traveler. He placed a hand at the base of his base sheepishly and looked down, the heat in his cheeks still there. “Honestly, how did you survive out here by yourself? You would have been walking in circles.”

“I don’t really have a destination when I travel, I just go where I feel I’m needed.” Morbidly enough, where he was needed to send innocent lives to their damnation, but he had always been able to follow his purpose. Without it, he felt blind. The strange urge that told him where the doors to the underworld were was still strong, but to walk away from them felt almost vulnerable. “But I am always open to learn, maybe you could give me a few pointers once we pass through the village? I always enjoy obtaining new knowledge.”

He decided that he didn’t like the feeling of vulnerability, and if he was going to stay in the mortal world for an extended amount of time, learning their customs and survival skills could be beneficial to him. The dark haired man looked down at Eos as she scurried between them, she had the energy of Hermes, the young trickster, and he could only hope that her current reincarnation would not succumb to a mischievous nature. He doubted he could handle trying not to kill unnecessarily and worrying that the little phoenix was up to something sneaky. Kei was pulled out of his thinking Eos shot underneath his footfall and he had to divert his momentum at the last second to keep from crushing her. The jerky action sent him stumbling forward and his gloved hands connected with a tree, barely keeping the exposed flesh of his nose away from its bark. He felt his heart race as he stared at the lucky tree for just a moment, his eyes flickering towards Niall for a brief second before he pushed himself away “Alright Eos, enough, we are almost to the village… probably.”

He bent down and managed to snag her on one of her passes between the two men and held her for a moment. Niall was right about keeping her hidden, a phoenix was a rare and heavily priced treasure that would no doubt bring out the worst in the people of this village at the moment. They were all still wrought with thoughts over revenge and a hatred for Thantos and the greed for this bird would no doubt explode. He stroked the feathers of Eos’ back, calming her, before placing the little bird gently into one of the pockets sewn to the inside of the jacket. She would be safe from sight, and although he could already feel beads of sweat pearling at the base of his neck, it would be worth it to keep Eos safe.

The moment the two reached the village, Kei could feel the hostile atmosphere. No doubt the villagers had seen them approaching as they walked the road Niall had led them to, but the moment they got close enough Kei could tell all eyes were on them. It was eerie, most of the people seemed tired, bags under their bloodshot eyes, but with a distinct undertone of hate. He scanned the village, a few faces stood out amongst the rest. The people that had chased Thantos deep into the forest, it was their grief and thirst for revenge driving them after him. The bloodlust in the village was strong, they looked upon Niall and himself with suspicion, one wrong move would break the dam of their aggression. As they got closer Kei could see them more clearly, as the people’s gaze fell upon him he could almost feel them shudder.

His eyes were dark, which was not unusual for humans, but the color of his irises made it nearly impossible to differentiate them from his pupils. They were flat, devoid of the light and sparkle usually present in a human, they were the eyes of the dead. He stared at one woman for a moment, the contact enough to make him stop walking as their eyes connected, he could see the realization dawning on her as she stared into his eyes. He cringed as her mouth seemed to open in slow motion to scream his identity, but someone beat her to it.

“That silver haired one! Look at his eyes, one is impure! Thantos’ mask has a scar over one eye, that man is Thantos!”[/color] The village seemed to scream to life, the overstrained dam of aggression surging forward and it seemed Niall was taking the brunt on it. Kei somehow became invisible, people surging past him to get to his companion and Kei stood frozen. His eyes drifting to the woman who knew, she had yet to move from her place, her eyes still locked on his figure. He turned away from her to see Niall being bombarded by the villagers. He was being beaten into submission by fists and farm tools and Kei could do nothing but look on in horror.
“Kill him! Avenge our brothers and sisters unjustly taken!”
“Lock him up to rot! Burn him in the morning!”
“Be wary! One touch of his skin will strike you dead!”
“Give us back our people!” It was chaos. Absolute madness and he could feel Eos squirming inside in coat in distress, as if she knew Niall was being harmed. He pressed her warm body against his chest and ran, he couldn’t do a thing for the silver haired boy without causing more causalities. Although beaten, they were already dragging the boy off to what appeared to be a lodge for criminals. He would be able to rescue Niall once things died down, when the people had settled and he could sneak to where they were holding him.
~
He returned after spending much of the day in the forest bordering the village. Eos had been restlessly crying nearly the entire time, but he was able to get her to quiet after promising to rescue the other man. He popped the collar of his trench coat and rushed down the short clearing to the building Niall was being held in. He was chained to the wall, beaten and bleeding, with three men standing around him, and a pig on a chain in the middle.
“This will prove it.”
“Thantos kills anything his skin touches.”
“We will know for certain he is Thantos once the pig dies.” Kei felt his heart rate increase, what would they do the boy they had tortured when they realized he wasn’t Thantos? Would they still blame him in a desperate attempt to justify beating the innocent? Would they accuse him of suppressing the power to kill? He adjusted his grip on the heavy branch he had found in the forest and snuck around to the front entrance. It seemed many of the people had been dispersed, but he could feel many eyes on the building. Creeping back, he realized that charging in would not be an option.

“Eos, darling, light this branch on fire for me, please?” The little bird looked at him curiously, but spat a small ball of fire onto the branch and it lit immediately. It must have been the special fire of the phoenix, because a thick piece of wood did not generally combust with that amount of fire. He creeped over to another building he had noticed, it was run down and he hadn’t seen anyone come in or out of it, and he threw the flaming log into one of its broken windows. He crawled back to the jail house and waited. It took only minutes for people to be screaming about a fire, and he could hear the footfall of the men in the building leave Niall alone. Crawling forward he slipped into the house unnoticed and was by Niall’s side immediately.

“Niall, are you ok? Of course you’re not ok, but don’t worry, I’m breaking you out of here.” He looked around the room and blessed his luck that the people it don’t think that ‘Thantos’ would have someone coming to his rescue. The key to the cuffs sitting on a table very out of reach of Niall and he grabbed it, fiddling with the cuffs until the boy’s hands were free. “It’s ok, everything it going to be alright, we are getting out of here.”

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As they approached the village Niall took out his eye mask and placed it on his face to hide his blind eye from view. In past experiences, he found that people often stared unabashed at this strange eye he sported and it was better covered. He may get some strange looks but no one would really pay him any mind. His whole goal here was to try little attention and having this small bit of plastic up should help him. Should anyway. He really hoped he wasn't making a mistake with this. He wanted to be in and out of this town as fast as possible. The less time they spent here, the less they'd be detained by the hostility of this place. Niall brought his head down and huddled himself to appear less threatening as he and his companion began to walk through the town.

Niall was very aware of the eyes that followed him and Keisuke. It was giving him a sense of unease and he found himself swallowing dryly. Maybe he should have chanced their luck with the bandits and cougars in the forest. He moved just right and a man caught sight of the eye covering he sported. Within moments, people were calling him out and screaming at him. His eyes widened in alarm. Before he could say anything to appease these angry people, they started whacking, punching, and kicking him. He dropped to his knees as someone ripped off his mask to reveal the strange eye. He got a couple of gasps and more confirmation that he was Thanatos. Who else could he be, what with his strange hair and eye.

"Stop! Please! I am not Thanatos!" he cried and tried to protect his face as the beating continued. He struggled to pull away from these violent strangers but it wasn't long before his legs and arms were tied and villagers wearing gloves started to drag him over the ground towards a jail cell. His bag had been ripped off and someone had snatched it up to check what Thanatos was carrying around with him. Niall tried to find a glimpse of Keisuke but with the mob around him, he couldn't see beyond them. He was sure Keisuke was glad to be rid of him. The man would run away with Eos and Niall wouldn't see them again. Why would Keisuke come and help him? They were just strangers forced to cooperate. Nial dropped his head forward and willed the hints of tears away from his eyes. He had to be strong and face his fate unabashed.

The townspeople chained him to the wall and forced a gag into his mouth so he could't speak some 'evil' and made sure they didn't touch his skin. Nial gave a muffled groan and tensed when one of the guards slammed him hard in the gut with a club. He hadn't done anything wrong! He didn't want to die like this. Burning at a stake sounded beyond unimaginable. Niall looked over at the pig with a blurry eye. His good eye was beginning to swell shut and soon he wouldn't be able to see at all. Blindness... total and complete blindness scared him. He swallowed dryly and clenched his hands. He was sure that even if he did pass the test they'd still kill him, imagining that he was faking innocence or something.

Niall closed his aching eye and tried to relax and think of something to help him out of this situation. Then he heard shouts of alarm and people running away. What now? He heard Keisuke's voice then and tried to catch a glimpse of the man but his good eye had finally finished swelling so he couldn't see him. He was honestly surprised that Keisuke had come back for him. He had no reason to help him. They weren't friends. Niall felt the man fussing with the chains and then his hands dropped from where they had been held. He hurried to pull the gag out of his mouth as Keisuke turned to the binds on his ankles.

[color=68228B]"K-Kei..."[/color] he called out brokenly. Joy and relief were starting to swell in his chest as he reached for the man. He grabbed onto his shoulder and an arm and tugged lightly. [color#8228B]"I c-can't.... can't see..."[/color] He curled his legs beneath him and used Keisuke as his support as he got to his feet. [color=#8228B]"You have... have to direct me.."[/color] Niall brought a hand down to press against his abdomen which ached. He was sure he was already starting to bruise there.He hoped that he wasn't bleeding internally or something had ruptured. He gripped Keisuke as he started to walk. He wanted his bag but right now, it was more important to get them both out of here. Niall wasn't going to be much help to the man assisting in his escape.

"K-Kei... I c-can't.... can't see..." Kei flinched when Niall first grabbed at him, but seeing as though he was nowhere near any of his exposed skin the man forced himself to relax. His voice was so different from before. It was relieved and hopeful, and Kei was thankful he was able to save the boy before the villagers were able to torment him further. The boy was too hurt to move as quickly as they needed too, because surely the men would be back once the fire was no longer out of control. “Niall, it’s ok. I’m going to get you out of here. So please, bear with me.”

Kei braced himself, making sure all his clothing was properly arranged, before looping one of his arms around the boy’s back and then bent to swipe the boy’s feet out from under him. He had seen people carry their wounded this way many times, and it was often referred to as bridal style. Eos squirmed from her squished spot in Kei’s pocket and onto Niall’s body. The boy was worse for wear and the little phoenix looked up and down the boy’s body in confusion to his present state. Kei began walking, the people were too distracted by the threat of the fire to notice him slipping out, and it was already dusk so it was even harder for people to notice since the man was already clad in all black. “Don’t worry Eos, I’ll keep us safe.” He whispered reassuringly to the little bird, but she seemed to ignore him as she inspected Niall’s wounds.

“You! You’re Thantos!” Kei was startled when the woman that he had seen earlier was standing in their way. She looked distraught, her eyes were swollen from crying and it looked like it had taken all of the courage she could muster. He felt bad for her, but he needed to go. Kei’s human form was not strong, and already Niall’s weight was proving to be too much of a burden for him. “Please miss, this has all been a mistake, let me save my friend.”
“Do not lie! I’ve seen your eyes! No human could possess eyes that look as if they are death itself!”
“Miss, please. You’ve made a mistake.”
“No! I watched you kill my entire family! I will avenge their deaths!” The statement hushed Kei and he felt his blood run cold. He had missed one of the people he was supposed to kill. The look of panic on his face seemed stop the woman as well. He wondered if the expression he wore now was something sinister. He shifted Niall’s weight, the boy was still blind, he wouldn’t witness a thing. Keisuke couldn’t risk Hera’s wrath. For the sake of appearances he pleaded with her one more time.

“Miss… please.” She didn’t respond and he leaned forward and before she could react he kissed her. His hands too full to take her soul in a more traditional way, he felt the energy of a soul taken before their time rush through his body, and he could feel the life drain from her body. “Thank you, I’m sorry for all your loss.”

The energy taken from the woman’s soul he rushed forward, moving as gently as possible for Niall until they were in the woods on the other side of the village. He set Niall down for only a moment, listening to the commotion of the village before picking the boy up again. He wasn’t sure if they were moving in the correct direction, but they could not bear to stay any closer. He was trekking uphill with the boy in his arms, and he was thankful for the energy of the woman’s soul aiding him. Eos was busying herself on Niall’s body and Kei had to guess it had to have been at least two hours before he finally looked down again.

Kei was sweating heavily, and his breathing was coming in heaving and labored, but Niall looked much better than when they had left the village. He noticed the feathers around Eos’ eyes damp and realized she had been healing the boy as he carried them. Even the unblended eye looked at least usable now. “Are you… feeling better?’ He managed to pant out.

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Niall tensed when he felt the man's arms around his shoulders and then in the next moment, the man was sweeping him off his feet. He gasped and clung to Keisuke's covered neck to give himself some support. He felt his companion rushing away with him and was once again startled by this man's innocence and charity. Keisuke was weighed down by his weight and yet the stranger was still helping him away from the village. He was stunned. The townspeople could turn around and spot them within moments! He didn't know there was a fire going on after all. Keisuke was risking capture for him. He buried his face against the man's shoulder and sighed inwardly. He winced when he felt Eos walking on his chest and shakily touched the little bird trying to calm her.

“You! You’re Thantos!”

Niall instantly gasped and clung to Keisuke. They were back! They were surely going to beat Keisuke now and drag them both back to the cell and take sweet Eos! But then... that was just once voice. He frowned as Keisuke pleaded with the woman. Eyes of the dead? She was talking about Keisuke? He wished he could see! What was happening? He heard the argument but then, Keisuke moved and their was silence before the man whispered a thank you and an apology. He clung to his friend tighter as they began moving away and Niall could swear he heard the sound of a falling body. Had Keisuke killed the woman? Was there a murderer hiding behind this sweet visage? If that were the case, him risking his life to save him was even more baffling. For now however, he had to focus on recovering. Keisuke couldn't carry him forever.

When Keisuke stopped, Niall opened his eyes and was surprised to find that his bruised eye was healing. He couldn't see perfectly, but it was enough that he could orient himself. His abdomen had been healed though there was still a dull ache, and his chest was healing. He was actually feeling a bit better than he had a moment ago. He looked down to Eos and reached a hand up to caress the bird's wet cheek and smiled. The dear little thing was healing him.

"Yeah. I am feeling a bit better. You can set me down now, thanks." When Keisuke did so, Niall gingerly took to his legs as Eos hopped up onto his uninjured shoulder and tried to clamber up his face to reach his eye better. Niall aided her in her goal and let her administer the healing touch. He felt the three cool tears fall onto the ache and within moments, the bruising receded to a more comfortable level and his vision was adjusting. It wouldn't be long before the injury faded away all together. "Thank you, Eos. And here I thought you didn't have your healing tears yet," he smiled softly. Eos chirped softly and nuzzled his cheek. Poor thing was so worried about him.

Niall turned to Keisuke then. He wanted to know what the woman was talking about but the man had just saved his life. He didn't want to scrutinize him now. Maybe later when they were both level-headed and calm. "Thank you, Keisuke. You didn't have to save me, but you did. I am surprised and so grateful. I am in your debt." Maybe... maybe that was a reason why Keisuke saved him. It made the only sense in this situation. "Where are we?"

"Yeah. I am feeling a bit better. You can set me down now, thanks." Kei nearly dropped the boy the moment he said he didn’t need to be carried anymore. Once he was sure Niall was safe to support his own weight Kei collapsed on the ground in front of him dramatically. Both literally and emotionally he felt lighter and he let out a huge sigh of relief. He slumped forward so his arms hung loosely in his lap and looked up to meet Niall’s now working eye. “I don’t think I could have gone much longer. You’re so much heavier than you look.”

He reached to his bicep and worked the stinging muscle. Eos was busy with Niall’s injuries, which were understandably the priority, and he watched her carefully before looking at Niall. Although Eos was busy healing all of the injuries his face was still swollen, and Kei suddenly felt irrevocably guilty. Niall’s injuries were his fault, if he hadn’t killed in that village the people wouldn’t have lashed out the way they did. Niall would have been able to pass through fine, and he wouldn’t have had to go through all of that. No one deserved to me tortured. He was grateful to Eos though, the little bird was irreplaceable at this point. Her abilities were saving Niall from a long bout of blindness that he would have had navigate through until his eye had healed. “A phoenix will only cry for something it cares about. Eos cares about you a lot so she is willing to give you her tears.”

He tilted his head back to look up at the sky. They had managed to stop in a small clearing where he could see a patch of sky. The last of the day’s light was gone, and he could see the speckle of stars illuminating the night sky. He briefly considered the fact he had never been away from the underworld for this long, and he loved it. The mortal world was so much better than the place he was born. Eos and Niall were the best things that had ever happened to him. Kei decided what he was feeling at the moment was happiness, and he found he didn’t want to let it go.

"Thank you, Keisuke. You didn't have to save me, but you did. I am surprised and so grateful. I am in your debt.” Kei raised an eyebrow in surprise as he lowered his gaze back down to Niall. He hadn’t even considered the idea of leaving the boy behind, especially since the whole ordeal was his fault, not that Niall knew that. He gave the boy a soft smile, the fire coming off of Eos was hopefully enough to illuminate it, and felt the corners of his eyes crinkle with the smile. “I would never abandon a friend, you owe me nothing.”

It was, however, Niall’s last statement that had his back straightening and the relaxed atmosphere he had felt moments before dissipate. He had simply been running blindly, away from the village and away from the pull of the door. He raked his gloved hands in his hair and fell backwards with a soft thud. “Oh no. I have no idea. I got us lost, in the woods, in the middle of the night. Oh no, OH NO, oh my, oh my goodness.” Panic set in quickly, he could feel Eos looking at him in confusion, but it didn’t stop the panic. Humans did not do well in forests, in the middle of the night, with no survive equipment. They were simply no good, much too fragile. Niall was his only friend besides Eos, what was he going to do if he died? He was the worst, the absolute worst.

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Niall sat down on a raised tree root with a groan. He may be healing, but he wasn't in perfect shape yet. He wanted to flop over. He raised a hand to rub his forehead to ease the now manageable ache there. He did feel guilty though. Here he was plotting how he was going to sell the bird and she had gone and sacrificed her tears for him. A phoenix only gave their tears up for those they loved and trusted. He would be backstabbing the bird so to speak. Well, didn't that make him feel like shit? He wanted to avoid people for the very same reason and here he was contemplating on doing the same. With that hard realization hit him, he wanted to cry. He didn't want to turn into the thing he hated. But now, he needed the money more than ever. All of his supplies and money were gone. Even his weapons had been taken away from him. What were they going to do?

"You freaking out is going to make me freak out. Quit it," he snapped. He sighed and looked over at the man again. "Look, sorry. I didn't mean to snap on you. We'll get through this night. I think it might be best for us to rest in the trees where it would be safer from bandits and other humans happening upon us. I can't hunt without my weapons and you don't have weapons so we aren't going to need a fire for food. Eos can take turns with who she sleeps with to keep us warm, or fuck, we'll find somewhere we can huddle for body warmth. We can worry about tools and what not tomorrow. I don't want to try our luck with getting into the town we just left to get my supplies so we'll have to make due. As we travel tomorrow, we can make weapons and unfortunately, if we happen upon someone, maybe we can get charity or steal from them." He didn't like the thought of stealing but at this point, they didn't have much of an option. "There just... there isn't much we can do right now and freaking out isn't going to help." And he couldn't use his Sight right now either. He was too exhausted.

At least they both had coats. Niall was lucky they left him his coat considering they thought his skin contact would cause them to keel over. Touch. His eyes widened a moment. The villagers said that if they touched Thanatos's skin, they'd die. He hated what he was about to ask, but he had to know the truth. If they were going to huddle together for warmth, that increased the chance of him dying. He swallowed hard as he turned towards his savior and peered at him as he tried to judge him. "Keisuke... I hate to have to ask this but are you the man they were looking for back there?" he asked. "Are you Thanatos? I am not going to run off on you. For some reason, you don't freak me out and you've earned my trust, what with saving me 'n all. I just... I need to know. Does your touch really kill everything?"

Right. Don’t panic. A big Do nOT Panic/ Kei CAlm down and DO NOT panix under any circumstance you must CALM DONW> Panicking does not help a situation, panicking, can actually make it worse.

Kei placed a hand over his chest, willing his body to stop freaking out, his heart rate felt tripled and his eyes felt as if they had widened to the size of golf balls. Niall was the one that should have been more worried, seeing as Kei would survive the night fine, but he ended being the one to keep a cool head and remain calm. He tried to focus his mind on what they boy was saying, but the only thing that seemed to get through to him was, sleep in a tree. He only mustered a simple nod before he turned to pull himself into the nearest tree. Though, his arms still felt like jelly from carrying Niall it seemed to be taking of on his strength to pull his body up.

"Keisuke...” He heard the boy call and grunted a response as he tried to squirm onto the branch. From under him he could hear Eos squeaking from the base of the tree as if to encourage his success. He had gotten into a position where his abdomen rested on the branch, but it was bending heavily under his weight. "Are you Thanatos?”

Kei fell out of the tree in shock, accompanied by a surprised yelp. He ended up landing face first into the bush below him, and despite Niall’s encouragements that he would not abandoned Kei the man popped his head up and responded immediately with a short. “No.” The bush he had fallen into though, withered and died around him almost instantaneously. And, without skipping a beat answered. “I mean yes.”

Stepping out of the dead bush he placed a gloved hand on one of the dead branches and thanked the plant for its time spent on the earth before turning to gauge Niall carefully, nervously. He suddenly felt extremely vulnerable, his muscles tensed to run the moment Niall made any sort of negative action towards him. He didn’t take his eyes off the boy though, but after several moments of no actions he made to speak, hesitantly. “Thanatos is the name they gave me, I’m not the actual god.”

He felt horrible for lying, but he could not tell the boy the whole truth, but he deserved to know, especially because one accidental touch could mean his death. “Ever since I was very young everything I have made contact with has withered under my touch..” He peeled off his glove and bent down towards the grass, but his eyes never left the boy. He traced his finger tips over the blades, leaving a trail of dried and browned blades in his wake. “If what you said is true, about trusting me, then I will trust you with my secret. But you can’t tell anyone, I have a huge bounty on my head.” He slipped his glove back on, securing it safely in place as he waited for the boy’s response to the news.

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Niall watched the man carefully as he began to climb the tree and then promptly fell out of it. His eyes widened and he did tense when he saw the bush wither and die within seconds. "Holly moon and stars!" he called out surprised. So it was true. He had thought maybe the town had been exaggerating about 'death's touch' but to actually see a plant die in moments was... crazy. He watched awe struck as the man touched the grass and left death in his wake. It really was frightening and there was a part of him that screamed that he should run away before this man took his life but he managed to quench the urge. This strange, strange person had saved his life. If he wanted him dead, he would have left him in the village. All the pieces began to fit though. Eos had died not because the man had squeezed the vibrant phoenix to death, but because he had touched it. This was eye opening.

When Keisuke mentioned the bounty, he instantly thought about taking the man back to town and handing him off to get his supplies and money, but he shook his head. First of all, the town would probably consider him an accomplice, and second of all he couldn't just take Keisuke back there. Keisuke had come back for him and that had earned Niall's respect. He couldn't throw him to the wolves. Niall ran a hand through his tousled hair as he debated what to do now. This could change everything.

"So you kill stuff with your touch... that is pretty powerful and sad. You wouldn't be able to truly touch anyone in your life time. I won't tell anyone your secret. It is a good thing I owe you my life," he grinned. "Why did you save me? You are walking death, no offense. Why was my life so important for you to risk capture? It doesn't make sense to me. Not even normal people would do that for me. They said you killed a family. Why did you do that? You... you don't seem like a killer. You're too damn innocent for a grown man. I don't know, something just doesn't fit," he answered and tapped his lips.

"And by Hades Gates, if you can kill things with a touch, I am not sleeping in a tree. It is not comfortable. You can sit down over here and we'll make sure we are both covered up and get warmth by sharing Eos and body heat. Trust me, sleeping in a tree is awful. We wake up with all sorts of knots everywhere and you can't sleep that well. 'Sides, we don't have rope to ensure we don't fall off. Maaan if I had known you could touch something and kill it, I would have never gone through the town in the first place! All of this could have been avoided." Hindsight was a bitch.

The swell of relief that came when the boy did not run away or lash out at him nearly brought the man to tears. He felt the tension in the muscles of his relax ever so slightly and his shoulders slumped a miniscule amount. He had been so scared Niall would abandon him, frightened that he would have the kill the boy if he tried to reveal his human identity or turn him in for money. He looked over the boy with a grateful smile, only looking away as Eos nipped at his heels. Bending over Kei scooped the little phoenix up, cradling her in the crook of his arm and smiling as she nuzzled into his chest.

Kei listened to the boy talk, making note of questions to answer all while entertaining the flaming bird in his arms. He looked down at Eos, stroking the top of her head with his gloved fingers and then looked back up to the boy. “I can’t remember a time where I could touch the world and not feel the life drain from it, it is my burden to bear. Why did I save you? Niall, you have been the only friend I’ve ever had in this world, it never crossed my mind to abandon you once…”

He trailed off thinking of why he killed. He killed for acceptance and a place in the immortal-world where people did not treat him cruelly for his existence. “I suppose I am similar to a hit-man. I kill for a certain organization and they allow me asylum. It is the only place I’ll be accepted for what I am, but I do not kill anymore than I have to.” He looked down at his hands where Eos was squirming, she looked up at him and he smiled down at her. She seemed to beam up at him before jumping down from her perch and running to Niall, then back to him, and continuing going back and forth between the two of them.

“Niall, I have spent my entire existence destroying everything I’ve touched, at this point all I want is to minimize the causalities. We can sleep on the ground, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be much help.” He said it firmly. It had been hard enough to willingly suck the life out of the grass below them, but to take the life of the wildlife would be a whole new burden to bear. He would do it, of course, if Niall needed food, and even if they were attacked he would not let the boy die, but to do so went against all his moral principles he had set forth hundreds of years ago.

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A killer without a killer's heart. What a strange man. His words made sense of course but all of this was rather strange. He never thought he'd encounter anyone with this sort of power over death. Was he blessed or coursed by the gods for something? "Reaper in power but not aim. A Midus unable to partake in life for curse and gift reaps all that touches; not of gold, death lay in wake with but a touch upon brow. Ye know no other sorrow and yearning of that you cannot grasp," he mused more to himself than to Keisuke in front of him as he pondered the man's conundrum. "Thy lie unforeseen; Death is unpredictable. One who seeks to Sight Death dies the fool." he grinned with a shake of his head.

Niall extended his hand and let Eos up into his lap as he lay back against the tree he was sitting beneath and stared up at the dark sky. He was well aware that the man had mentioned he'd rather not kill anything and minimize casualties and Niall was playing with fire so to speak, by deciding to sleep on the ground but really, sleeping in a tree wasn't all that better. He had been telling the truth when he said it was easy to fall off if you did manage to sleep. Chancing the night on the ground was the better option for the both of them.

"Keisuke, I haven't been completely honest with you," he mused and looked over at him briefly. "See... I have a bounty on my head to in certain circles. I am odd, but not as odd as you. See, I was born with this strange hair color and this blind eye, but it is not truly blind. I can't see the physical world with it, but I can see into the future. I liked to call it the Void or the Mist. It is really milky and foggy when you first go through it and it is like... this never ending maze that pulls you and tugs you... so easy to get lost forever. It just goes on and on.. and on.." he whispered, his silver eye beginning to fog over before he shook his head to bring himself out of the beginnings of the trance. He knew well enough that going in as tired as he was would result in some pretty nasty consequences. "I wasn't sleeping when I was sitting down yesterday. I was in the Mist. I can't see you and I can't see myself, but I can pick a location and see what is happening there. It is why I knew going into town would be dangerous. In the forest I saw bandits and a variety of predatory animals that I didn't feel confident we could brave. I wish I had picked the forest route."

Niall smiled then and rolled onto his side so both of his eyes were trained on Keisuke as Eos rushed over to the man again. "To answer your question from before, I found Eos because I found her in the Mist. I knew when and where she would land."

More riddling, Niall did indeed enjoy speaking in that vague and not at all helpful way. Though, it was much easier to understand when the riddles were directly about Kei and his personal situations. He sighed, lowering himself to the ground so he was now sitting. The ground was already cooling in the night air, and he felt goose bumps prickle along his skin. The night air of the forest would not kill him, but it would not pleasant either. “Yeah, yeah. All the Ye’s and sorrows, very poetic. I never really understood riddling.” He grumbled bemused with the boy across from him.

It was Kei’s turn to be surprised when Niall attempted that he also had secrets that needed confessing. He wondered if it had anything to do with the first riddling Niall had presented him with, and he hoped it did because the man wanted the answers he hadn’t been given before. It took him by surprise that the boy was a seer of all things. He felt his eyebrows shoot up and took a few moments to regain himself. He tried to think back on the few times he had met seers in his long lifespan. Generally they spent their time holed up in one location, spilling visions of the future and aiding heroes on quest via… unnecessary riddling! “Ah! That does explain your affinity for riddles, I’m glad though, I thought you were just a weird human. Oh, but I shouldn’t be joking now, thank you for trusting me with your own secrets.”

Kei hesitated for a moment listening to the boy explain why he had acted in the manners he had and nodded along to it carefully, considering everything that had gone on between them so far. He wasn’t surprised that Niall wasn’t able to see him, no seer that he met was able to see the future of the gods, but it was concerning hearing the boy talk about get lost in that Void. He had heard stories from past seers about things like that, it was dangerous territory to complete immerse yourself in those areas for too long.

As the boy lay down Kei copied his actions, using his arm as a barrier between the ground and his cheek he locked eyes with the boy accepting Eos' warmth as she burrowed into his coat, and he whispered softly into the darkness, “Niall, I will protect you and Eos from now on. I will not let you get lost in your visions, and I will not let the aggressions of the world harm you the way that village did today, so do not fear and sleep well tonight.”

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Niall smiled at his companion. The man seemed to be more excited about finding the reason for his riddling more than anything else. Keisuke, the man with the touch of death, was fascinated by a seer's trademark riddles. It was really starting to endear him. He may have solved one puzzle but Keisuke saw it fit to throw more mysteries at him. He knew there was something missing in the stories and he would eventually figure it all out. Till then, he was going to enjoy his sudden companion. Who would have thought he'd have Death as a friend? At the man's firm belief that he would protect Niall from all the evils of the world, he found himself chuckling again. The thought seemed so silly but Keisuke had already proved that he would do just that.

"Good night, Keisuke. Thank you again for saving me today. And good night Eos." He earned himself a chirp before he closed his eyes and the little group drifted into sleep.



It had been about 3 weeks since their run in with the village and the group was actually doing well for itself. Niall created temporary weapons for himself and he and Keisuke hunted for food, Eos cooked it, and then the scavenged for healing supplies and Niall found things here and there with his sight that they could trade with. It wasn't long before Niall had a new bag for regular supplies and storage, some food to spare, and Niall had a nifty new sword. They weren't the richest band but they survived an life was beginning to have a normal, simple, flow. Niall had started to pick up contracts again to find oddities and rarities for a price but he never did turn in Eos and Keisuke was a companion rather than a burden. Niall was... happy. This was the closest to a real family he had in ages. It was refreshing and he felt safe and supported again. Maybe all people weren't that bad.

Niall groaned to himself as he stretched on his little cot and smiled as he snuggled his fur blanket. It was so warm and with the coming winter, he was going to need it more than ever. Well, Eos was still with them so maybe he wouldn't need the blanket too much. The bird in question was sleeping with him tonight. She to was snuggled beneath the covers but she was much bigger than she had been. She could perch on his arm or shoulder and her body was probably the size of a small dog. She was growing and her magnificent feathers seemed richer and darker than they had been in her last form even if she had yet to finish growing.

Niall sat up and rubbed his face to rid himself of the remainder of sleep and looked over at Keisuke who was still sleeping. He did notice that he usually woke up before Keisuke. He smiled softly before he slowly shifted out of the cot and rolled away so he didn't disturb Eos before filling a bowl with water. He washed his face and used a small dagger to scrape off any fuzz that threatened to grow on his face. He hated all kinds of beards and would not tolerate one on his own face. He fixed his hair and got himself ready for the day.

The young seer plopped down beside his bedding and stared up at the sky a moment to take in the beautiful morning. Morning was always his favorite time of day. Whelp, time to get down to business. He had a lost medallion to find. He straightened himself and brought his bowl of water closer so that he may stare into. He took the calming first breaths of his meditation and allowed himself to slip off into the mist with the medallion firmly in mind. His eyes quickly earned that signature dazed look. Unlike most trips into the Mist, Niall wasn't quiet. At first his lips just moved and he mumbled a bit here and there, but then he began to speak.

"The bearer... the bearer.... poisoned... poison... seek the tiger without fang.... there sleeps the... the... golden sheen...

Keisuke watched as the boy settled to go to bed. He was elated that Niall had accepted him, not only the fact he was Thantos, but that he also accepted his company was amazing. He rolled over onto his back so that he could look at the stars. For the first time in his life he didn’t just exist, he was living. The very thought had the man’s heart pounding in his chest. This was it, this was what he had been searching for in the centuries of his existence, happiness.
~
Three weeks in Kei decided he was finally adjusting to a human life. He had been following Niall’s lead mostly, never asking for help, but the boy always seemed to know how to push him in the right direction. He had been taught correct hunting techniques, and though he had been reserved, killing with weaponry instead of his touch brought the animals they hunted to their destined end. So while Kei wished to minimize the damages he caused, making Niall happy and keeping the boy healthy and safe seemed to overrule his own morals and restrictions he had set for himself. And Niall seemed happy with him, that was more than Kei could ask for.

Besides the hunting, everything else he had learned had been extraordinary. He especially loved learning about herbs with medicinal purposes. Kei was the opposite of a healing person, but if he could accumulate enough knowledge the man that had spent his whole life killing could finally aide a life in surviving, even if it was just for a small amount longer. In the past weeks he had really taken to memorizing different healing plants, their properties, and how to properly use them. They had visited many small villages, but none of them had contained libraries or bookstores where he could pick up more knowledge about medicines.

Eos had been growing at a remarkable rate. When they had first picked her up, after Kei had unceremoniously killed her last reincarnation, Eos had been to fit in the palm of either of their hands. Now she was growing, her brilliant red feathering filling in nicely, and her tail feathers extending to the trademark train that the phoenix was accustom to having. She was quite the beautiful creature, and Kei was pretty sure the little bird knew she was hot stuff, both literally and figuratively. Although they had been taking ‘turns’ sleeping with Eos as a personal heater, whenever it was Kei’s turn he’d wait for the boy to fall asleep before ushering the fiery bird under his blankets with him. Niall had, against Kei’s wishes, purchased bedding and blankets for the both of them, so he was able to manage fine during the night with just those things. Kei had taken to keeping watch in the middle of the night when he knew Niall had fallen asleep. His body never once craved sleep, and although he had experienced fatigue on multiple occasions, just sitting down and resting would solve the problem.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Niall started waking, and as he did every morning he laid himself down, feigning that he was dead asleep. This was the best way to keep Niall unsuspicious of his less than human actions, it was the proof that Kei did in fact need sleep. He listened as the boy slowly awoke and began his morning routine, and it was then he noticed the strange pain in his left bicep. It had been happening since last week, just slight annoyances at first, but now it was getting nearly impossible to ignore. He had discovered he had been developing bruising up and down his left arm, and in the last couple days it had been spreading over his chest. This current wave of pain making it hard to breath, and it took all his might to remain ‘asleep’.

Kei was terrified though, he didn’t know what was happening to his body, and he didn’t know if his mortal body was dying or rejecting him. He had never spent this long on the surface, but he did not want to leave, not when he still had Niall and Eos. He struggled to keep his breathing slow and peaceful, though his body had broken out into a cold sweat, and only once the campsite had gone silent did he rocket up, grasping his chest in pain. His gasping breathes alerted Eos that something was wrong, and she hopped past a meditating Niall to look at Kei, concern obvious in her eyes. “It’s ok E, just a bad dream.”

Clearly the bird didn’t buy it, but the man ignored the concern, stripping off the layers of clothing he had to look at the damages. His left arm was almost completely covered in the strange black and brown bruising, it was reaching all the way into his palm and finger tips, but now it was travelling over his chest. From the position of the surface discoloring he could only assume that what ever this was, it was attacking his left lung. Every breath he took felt insufficient, and he used the fingers of his right hand to press against his shoulder and neck, judging how far the strange illness had progressed. It seemed to barely be grazing his collar bone now, his entire shoulder succumbing to the strange bruise. Eos clucked at him, but he shook his head. “I don’t think your tears can stop an illness from the underworld darling.”

Though, honestly, he didn’t know what this was. He had never seen an underworld disease that acted the way this bruising had. He was extremely concerned that Niall would catch whatever it was he had though, and Kei absolutely could not allow that. As he was pulling his clothing back on Niall started speaking and the man felt his heart jump, the tank top was on, but his left arm was still fully exposed. He shot a worried look at the boy, but it seemed as those he was still searching for answers over the latest contract he had taken. Kei didn’t like when Niall took contracts, but there was nothing the man could do to stop him. He knew that using his abilities as a seer took a toll on the boy’s mental state, but Niall continued to do so, convinced they had to rely on his abilities in order to survive.

Pulling on the last of his clothing, and making sure all the bruising as covered he crawled over to the boy, taking in the words he was saying. Kei doubted it was a good thing that he was speaking while having a vision, and it was a possibility he was getting too deep into the Void. Making sure both his arms were completely covered he reached up and cupped the boy’s face. His thumb stroking his cheek right below his clouded eye, “Niall. Niall wake up. It’s Kei, Eos and I are waiting for you over here. You’ve done enough, so please wake up.”

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Nial grumbled something else that wasn't quiet coherent as the man began to call his name. His voice started to pull him away from the visions and he blinked lethargically. He groaned and stared at Keisuke and Eos's worried face. "...wha.. wo..." his brain always did feel like mush when he started to come out of the Mist, waiting for all of his consciousness to come back to the present. He blinked a few more times as he focused on his companions and offered a smile. "Good morning. How long was I out?" he asked and wiped at his eyes. "I hope I didn't wake you or anything," he said as he got up from where he was sitting. He dusted off and stretched himself out.

"All right, I know where we need to go next. The thief got himself poisoned after he showed off the medallion and the killer dropped the medallion in front of a Japanese temple in the Waile forest. We should be able to get there in about a week. The priest of the temple took the medallion inside so it should be moving around anymore," he explained. "I'll start packing up our stuff. Are you ready to begin walking?" he asked as he rolled up his mat and the wonderful, but heavy, blanket.

Eos hurried over to him and started tugging at the hem of his sleeve or the end of his shirt. Niall looked down at her and arched an eyebrow at her. "What is it baby girl?" she chirped at him and kept tugging him before she turned to Keisuke and tugged at the clothing of his left side. Poor thing wanted to draw attention to Keisuke's injuries but Niall didn't understand. He hadn't seen the injuries after all. He cocked his head to the side and looked up at Keisuke. "Am I missing something? What is she trying to tell us?"

Kei sighed in relief, letting his hands drop, as Niall returned back to the mortal realm. He gave a relieved smile to the silver haired boy and stood up with him. He was happy that the boy was conscious again, even if he was a little foggy, Kei had been developing an unnatural fear that Niall would go into his visions and not wake up one of these days. It seemed as if the boy had been using his sight more and more recently, which could not be good. "Good morning. How long was I out?" Kei offered him a warm smile.

“Mornin’ I’m glad to see you made it back safe! I don’t think you were in the Void for too long, but I just woke up so I’m not sure.” Truth be told, he had been so focused on his own problems he had lost track of time and had no idea how long Niall had been in the Void, it couldn’t have been more than a half hour though, he was sure that amount of time was not dangerous. He rolled his shoulders as he walked back to the area he had been sleeping. Everything on his left side hurt, and as he continued to move he realized that pain was not going away anytime soon, it would be something would have to get used too.

He only turned to face Niall when the boy started speaking of their next adventure. He looked at the boy with admiration, from the words he had been muttering Kei hadn’t gotten any of that information. He knew exactly what they needed to do, how to do it, and where to find it. Whatever it was. As Niall had been explaining their new journey Kei had started packing his things. His left side of incredibly sore though, as he tried to force himself he could feel the cold sweat breaking out again. Steadying his breath he managed to finish the job, slinging his own pack onto his bag. He’d be able to fake it. “I’m ready to go whenever you are.”

Eos, much to his dismay, was not going to allow him to hide his health problems. He watched nervously as she desperately tried to get Niall’s attention onto him and he shot a glare at her. He didn’t seem to care though, stubborn little bird she was. He watched as Niall tried to decipher what the problem was and jumped at the opportunity to dismiss her behavior. “Maybe she’s excited to get a move on. She seemed to really enjoying travelling to new places. “

At his statement Eos literally squawked at him. The loud noise startled him backwards and he sent a glare at her, trying desperately to cover up the real problem. “Don’t you take that tone with me young lady.” He scolded sternly, twisting his features into faux anger. She made the squawking noise again and he was prepared to shoot back. “I am your father and I will not stand to let you speak to me that way.”

They continued their verbal battle until Eos gave up on him and started trying to get Niall to act. He was about to move forward to try and stop her when he was hit with another wave of pain. It felt like his lung seized up and it sent him to the ground in a coughing fit. The weight of his pack wasn’t helping the fact though, the pain had come out of no where, as he coughed he felt a metallic taste in his mouth. Feeling himself gag the man lurched forward and suddenly spit up a load of blood. He could only assume the bruising was attacking his left lung and that was where the blood was coming from.

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Niall frowned as he watched Eos's antics. What was wrong with her? She had never acted this way before. When she was excited, she did nip and tug at them but this seemed... urgent. There was something wrong. He tilted his head to the side as he watched Keisuke interact with the phoenix. She seemed mostly focused on Keisuke it seemed. Was he trying to hide something from him? Immediately his heart fell. Oh no. No. What was he hiding? Was he going to turn against him like so many others had? His hands tightened on his bag as he watched the scene, unsure of what to do in this situation. He shouldn't have gotten attached to Keisuke. He shouldn't have let him in but he had been so sweet and kind and silly. Keisuke had come back for him. How could he be betraying him now?

And then, Keisuke coughed up blood. Niall's eyes widened and everything he had been carrying dropped to the floor. This was even worse than his initial thought. He didn't want Keisuke to die! Why was he coughing up blood? That had to mean he had an internal injury somewhere! Why had he tried to hide it? Niall was here for him just as much as Keisuke was here for Niall. Did Keisuke not trust him? He swallowed hard and ripped open his bag looking for his medical supplies that they had collected. He yanked on his gloves and rushed to Keisuke's side. Eos was right beside him, squawking in her worry over Keisuke.

"Keisuke! Why didn't you tell me you were sick? We could have stayed at the inn and gotten you some real medication and rest!" he hissed as he yanked the man's jacket off and then his shirt. What he saw made him gasp. Keisuke's left side was completely bruised. The color just looked awful. He didn't remember Keisuke hitting anything. What could have caused this? Niall reached a shaky hand up to gingerly touch the bruising. The color seemed to lighten at the pressure before returning to its sickly shade. Tears filled his eyes then. He didn't want Keisuke to die! "What... what happened? When were you hurt?" he asked him softly. "You need to lay down and rest. You must have an internal injury somewhere and I can't fix that," he said a bit distraught as he started to direct Keisuke to lay down. "Maybe Eos can heal it. Has she tried crying on you yet?"

The man forced a smile as Niall rushed over to him, the concern wrought on the poor boy’s face was endearing and even though he was in pain he found he was still so grateful for having met him three weeks ago. “I didn’t tell you because I knew you would worry over me like this… I don’t think medication is going to help me..” He trailed off into another fit, tiny specks of blood were being spit out with the force of the coughs and he winced back from it, it left lung specifically felt on fire.

As Niall stripped him of his coat he immediately felt the goose bumps raise on his skin, the near-winter weather was not kind to bare human sky, and he felt a shiver run down his spine and Niall took in the nasty bruising along his left side. Niall looked distraught looking at his skin and Kei felt guilty because of it, he wanted to tell the boy it would be alright, but he didn’t know if things would be alright. He didn’t know this bruising was, where it originated from, or how long it would be until he met his demise.

"What... what happened? When were you hurt?" Kei smiled at Niall as he began to doctor him, he was treating him gently, as if one wrong touch would break him. He winced when Niall pressed against one of the bruised areas, but other than that he did his best to mask how much pain he was in. He reached with his gloved hand to cup the boy’s cheek, a very sad smile on his lips, his eyes prickled and stung ever slightly. “It started about a week ago, just a small bruise on my arm, I don’t think it’s something we can fix Niall.”

He winced again as another bought of coughing over took him and he dropped his hand from the boy’s cheek. Eos hopped onto his knee, looking at him with concern and he patted her head gently. He had gotten sickness from the underworld before, but he never even had his parents to look after him, and yet now he had these two and Kei couldn’t believe how grateful he was to have them. “We already tried that, didn’t we darling? It only lightened the bruising and it came back stronger in a couple hours.”

He sighed, despite Niall laying him down Kei pushed himself back up so he was sitting. “I think my body is finally rejecting me. I mean, I’m unnatural right? A human shouldn’t have the power to grant death with a single touch.” Kei doubted that his human vessel was designed to stay in the mortal world for such an extended time like this, his immortal body was perfectly capable of housing death, as he was immortal, but this fragile thing was not meant for such a power. He clenched and then unclenched both hands, He was barely able to will the left one to close all the way, it felt stiff and frozen.

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"If you weren't sick and hurting, I'd punch you square in the jaw!" he growled. "So what if you are unnatural? That doesn't mean you should just up and die with this odd... odd thing! I am not natural either and I don't think it is fair that I should go insane because of it! Don't you dare think that it is simply okay for you to die! You can't die! I don't want you to die and I won't let you!" It was big talk coming from him since he didn't know what to do. He started shaking as he stared at his companion. He looked like he was in so much pain. Why couldn't Eos cure him like she had cured Niall? It wasn't fair! He finally felt normal again and now Keisuke was going to leave him.

"Not on my watch," he grumbled and wiped at his eyes to clear the before he dragged his bag over to Keisuke and started to rummage through it until he grabbed a few leaves to mash into paste and rubbed it gently over the bruising trying to ease the ache there and slow it down. He mixed another herb with water he heated and offered it to Keisuke."Drink this. This medicine should hopefully help... it.. it is supposed to help your blood clot so you don't keep bleeding internally. We'll know if it worked if you stop bruising and if you stop coughing up your own life."

Niall sighed and sat down beside his friend and let his hands rest on his knees. He didn't know what else to do. He didn't want Keisuke to die. Keisuke was his only friend. He bit at his lip and shook his head. "Keisuke... has this ever happened to you before? How do you stop this? Maybe it is selfish but I want you to stay with me. I don't want you to just... die. You seem like you don't care if you die or not. I do.... I care."

“You can't die! I don't want you to die and I won't let you!" Kei was surprised by the outburst and watched as the boy shook. It dawned on him that he wasn’t the only one that had gotten attached during their time together. As much as Kei cared for and wanted to protect Niall, the boy cared just as deeply as he did. He reached up and placed a hand on the shaking boy’s head, ruffling the mess of silver hair he sported. “Alright, I’m not going to die. I won’t leave you, I’m sorry.”

Eos chirped and he reached down to ruffle her feathers as well, a smile gracing his lips. “I’m not going to leave you either Eos, don’t you worry.” It was a big statement, and he hated that he had to break the moment with another rough round of coughing. His body was dry heaving with the coughing now, ugly hacking sounds escaping his mouth as his stomach tried to regurgitate nothing. He had to cover his mouth and brace himself, his entire left side felt as if it were on fire, and tears pricked the corners of his eyes before another gush of blood erupted from the depths of his body, spurting through his fingers and onto the ground next to him, with the glove thoroughly ruined on his left hand he had to peel it off, casting the bloody garment aside. The dark bruising was stretched all the way into his palm and was beginning to take over his finger tips.

“We'll know if it worked if you stop bruising and if you stop coughing up your own life.” The boy carefully took the cup with his still gloved right hand, the mush of herbs hadn’t made a difference on his arm, but he wasn’t about to say anything about its ineffectiveness. He cradled the tea gently, soaking in the warmth before slugging it down in one gulp. It burned on the way down, and didn’t sit well in his stomach, but he managed to hold it down at least. “That paste.. whatever it was, I think it helped a little bit. It doesn’t hurt so much where you put it on my arm.”

"Keisuke... has this ever happened to you before-” Kei listened to the boy’s plea and gently lowered the cup he was holding down. He took the boy’s gloved hand and intertwined his left hand’s fingers, he wanted to say everything was going to be alright, but he didn’t know why this was happening, other than his mortal body’s inability to support his powers for such an extensive period of time. “I’ve never experienced anything like this. I can only hope that it passes on its own.” He gripped the boy’s hand tighter, giving him a weak smile in an attempt to reassure him. “Don’t you worry Ni, I’m going stick around you for a real long time. I’m going to stay with you, I promise.”

He squeezed the boy’s hand tighter as another bout of coughing racked his body, but this round wasn’t nearly as violent as the last had been. No blood came up, and he had to wait for it to pass before giving Niall a hopeful grin, showing off his right hand. “Look, no blood.” He didn’t attribute it to the medicine really, but the fact he had just vomited blood not even five minutes ago and his body was giving him a break. The fact that he had been vomited blood in the first place had him worried, coughing out blood could mean whatever this was, it was in his lungs. Vomiting it out meant the sickness was creeping into his stomach. “I care Niall, I do care, I promise.”

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Niall sighed and just watched his companion. It was like he was just deteriorating. What possibly could Keisuke have that Eos couldn't heal? Did her power of healing get negated by Keisuke's power of taking life? It was possible considering the fact that they were opposite affects of each other. Was it something else that had something to do specifically with this strange illness? Something wasn't fitting right and Niall found he did not like this puzzle one bit. He started to tug at a strand of his hair then. Keisuke's body hadn't had this illness before so that meant something must have changed to get the body to hurt itself or whatever the fuck it was doing.

"What changed... what changed... You said it was time but there should have been some other indication. Whatever this is is taking its toll quickly. You said it appeared a week ago..." he murmured to himself. Sometimes talking out loud helped him think through a problem so Keisuke was stuck listening to him rant on. "You started traveling with me three weeks ago but we haven't done anything to really alter you. You are still traveling around. You eat and sleep. What did you do before that you don't now?" Niall got to his feet an started to pace. Before all of this, Keisuke had just been a random wanderer. He wandered around and then took contracts from whatever organization he worked for and assassinated people. He didn't do that as far as he was aware. That thought stopped him in his tracks and his gaze shot up at Keisuke. Could that be it?

Keisuke took life. Keisuke had been refraining from doing so. Did that mean something in his body that allowed this power to coexist with it was now back firing some way? If he killed something, would this illness stop? He looked the man over then. Shirtless. His left hand was glove-less. He was sitting on a blanket so he wasn't touching the ground. He knew his next action could potentially make Keisuke thing he was betraying him but he had to do it for Keisuke's sake. He rushed towards him then and shoved Keisuke just enough to get him to stumble to the the side. This forced his left hand and his side into the lush grass around them. Immediately the grass dried but Niall wasn't paying that much mind. He was watching Keisuke's body. His fingers... they seemed to color again and the darkness receded just a little bit. Maybe this rally was the cure. Only one way to find out for sure.

"Your power. That is your cure. You have to kill things if you are going to keep yourself alive," he announced. "With the amount of damage on your body, you are going to need to kill something bigger than a bit of grass. I am sorry Keisuke, but you need to use your power. Just like I need to rely on Sight, you need to rely on death. I know it sucks but you don't have a choice."

Kei focused on his breathing, and for the moment he was thankful whatever this was had yet to reach his right lung because it was definitely doing all of the breathing for him at the moment. The dark haired man was scared. He had made those promises to Niall, but truthfully, he had no idea what to do. He didn’t know the origin of whatever had infected him, and more than anything there was a sudden deep seeded fear that he was going to have to abandon Niall. The boy had been so emotional over the idea of Keisuke dying and leaving him, there was no way he would leave this world without kicking and screaming. Clenching his fist he remembered back to three weeks ago, when he had promised to protect Niall. Kei would protect Niall, even if this body ended up withering he would still ensure his safety from his spot in the underworld, use any means necessary, he would not go back on that promise.

The man had been so lost in his own thought that the sudden force of Niall pushing him had the man barely catching himself before his bare chest connected with the grass. Instead, left hand slid through the blades, leaving a path of decay as he slide. But Kei realized what was going on before Niall said anything. He could feel it in his fingers, the energy from the grass combating the disease, and he understood immediately the cure for his illness. The feeling in the pit of his stomach felt as though he had swallowed several iron balls, it was heavy and metallic and his head shot up to make frantic eye contact with the silver haired boy.

His emotions were evolving and devolving at rapid speeds, the initial shock melted quickly away into horror, which morphed into disgust, and then dissolved into anger. The anger didn’t last though, it quickly fell into a heavy sadness that in turn crumpled into despair. His head dropped into his hands as his mind reeled. Kei, no Thanatos, had spent millenniums devoting himself to only committing to the absolute minimum soul taking, only bringing death to those who had reached their destined end. But now, in order to continue to live in one measly vessel, he would be killing creatures that deserved a full life. His heart rate began to race, his fingers digging into his scalp, his only working lung was straining under the toll of moving oxygen into his bloodstream and he could feel he was on the urge of hyperventilating.

Before it got that far he paused. He had promised Niall to live, to stay with him, to protect him, and he had decided he would do that. Even if it meant throwing away everything he stood for, his morals, his ethics, his beliefs, who he was. He had made that decision, and he wasn’t about to go back on it now that he had to follow through. Kei’s hands dropped into his lap and he resigned himself to his new reality.

When he looked up at Niall, for the first time in his existence his expression felt as flat as his eyes, and he gave the boy an empty smile. “You’re right.”

He pushed himself to his feet with shaky feet, stumbling forward just slightly. Everything hurt and he scanned the area with heavy eyes before picking a close and tall looking tree as his target. He moved towards it with sluggish movements, each step taken with his left leg sent tendrils of pain through his spine and Kei realized the disease was creeping down his leg. The tree hadn’t been more than ten paces, but he was panting when he reached it, his left hand extended as his palm connected with the bark. He felt the energy rush through him as the grand tree shriveled under his touch, and he wanted to cry, but made sure to keep his expression blank. The tree served to rid him of the discoloring up to his elbow, and just as he was about to move on to the next a soft huff caught his attention.

He turned just in time to see a large brown bear and happened to wander into the clearing with them, it seemed just as surprised to see them as Kei was that it had appeared. There was just a brief moment where time froze, Kei and the bear both sizing up the situation. Niall was closer to the bear, and that realization is when Kei felt the adrenaline flood his system. The bear seemed startled when he charged forward, the pain of his leg seemingly forgotten as he ran to put himself between the bear and Niall, stopping only a split second once he had put himself between them to glance back at the silver haired boy before ramming his body into the beast.

The creature had been rearing up when Kei hit it, and the moment he did he felt its life drain as the taughtness in its muscles went limb. He pushed its weight to the side, falling to his knees with the creature. He had felt it when he hit he bear, it had such a long life ahead of it that Kei had robbed her of. He felt the time that it would not live, and looked down at his body, all the bruising gone, but at what cost? To be with Niall, Kei was abandoning himself, so in that moment he took the time to be who he was before discarding that person entirely.

The man dug his fingers into the fur of the bear, lowering his head so it too was buried in the pelt and he felt his body shudder as be cried. He was doing this for Niall, he told himself, and muttered a mantra to himself over and over again until it finally sunk in. “I will protect you, I will stay with you, I will live for you.”

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Niall watched his companion as Keisuke realized the truth of his statement. He did feel bad for him. It was awful, having to take life to sustain life. He wished there was something more he could do for him but there was nothing. He sighed as Keisuke touched the tree. Within moments, Keisuke was looking better and the tree withered. At least they had figured out what was wrong with him. Maybe along the way, Keisuke could pick up work as a fighter for hire again or maybe help the coppers. He kind of hoped the second option since that would allow Keisuke to go after criminals rather innocent people.

Niall's eyes widened when he heard a huff behind him and swallowed hard. That was loud. He turned and tensed as he came face to face with a bear. How the hell did a bear sneak up them like this? They were huge creatures! And in a flash, Keisuke was charging it. Niall stumbled back with Keisuke move in front of him and tackled the animal. At the end of it, Niall was cured but there was still something wrong. Keisuke sounded... off. He frowned and took a step forward. "Keisuke?" he called softly, "Keisuke... are you okay? I... I know this is hard and I am... I am sorry that this is the price for your power. I promise you that we'll figure something out, all right? Maybe we can go back to town and look at Wanted posters and talk to the Coppers and get you a job so that you use your power against bad guys traveling about. I can use my Sight to help you find them. Would that make you feel better?" Niall rested a gloved hand on Keisuke's shoulder then, trying to give him some comfort.

Niall dropped to his knees beside Keisuke then and stared at the dead bear. Was he being selfish? He wanted Keisuke to be with him. He hadn't had a companion like him before and it was nice but killing... killing to live was hurting Keisuke. Why had the gods cursed this man this way? He didn't deserve it. He was a good man. He bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll pray to the gods to help you. Maybe they can lift the curse of this power or something," he promised.

“Would that make you feel better?" He wanted to wail out the word ‘No!”, because he didn’t want to kill anyone. He wanted the world was turn where all creatures died with their destined end, it didn’t matter if they were bad guys or not no deserved a premature death. But, he held his tongue, sniffling loudly before raising his head. Wiping his eyes on the back of his arm he pushed himself away from the bear, “Yeah, I’m already feeling better.”

"I'll pray to the gods to help you. Maybe they can lift the curse of this power or something.” Kei felt a warm smile spread across his lips, Niall was being so kind to him. He sniffed one last time, effectively clearing his nasal passage, and tilted his head up towards the sky, looking on as the rosy effects of dawn faded into a brilliant blue. “The gods huh? Now there’s a thought.”
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It had been just about two weeks since they had discovered Kei had to kill in order to stay alive. Two weeks of adjusting to the fact he was killing for no reason other than to stay by Niall’s side. It scared him that it had only taken two weeks to get comfortable with the idea, but he supposed devoting himself to the boy was the biggest reason for this acceptance. Kei often pondered the fact that he had changed his entire existence, one he had spent millenniums maintaining, over a human he had met just barely over a month ago.

The boy in question was walking a few paces ahead of him, he seemed tired though, maybe even a bit dispirited, and for what Kei hadn’t the slightest idea. He stretched out his left hand, after ruining the glove with blood vomit he never bothered to get a new one so the hand remained gloveless, and brushed his fingers against the leaves of a tree they passed by. The withered in on itself, a wilted mess of death left where the plant once stood and Kei let its energy rush through him, closing his eyes for a moment and sighing.

He only opened them when he felt a plume of heat pass by him, and caught of glimpse of a fiery red tail shoot past him and he smiled. In the past two weeks Eos had grown to what Kei believed would be her full size, if anything her tail plumage filling out a bit more, and she was more full of life than any other creature he had seen. She circled around Niall once, playfully tugging at a piece of his hair before moving to Kei. She hovered by him, watching his actions with gentle eyes before clucking in what he’d have to describe as endearment. He raised his arm as an offering for a landing perch and was grateful when she landed. It had only gotten colder over the past two weeks, and yesterday they had awoken to a thin layer of frost over the ground. He blamed the rapid change in weather on both the season change, and the fact they were still travelling north. The bird cooed at him at he smiled in response, he was probably more grateful to Eos than any other being, she had been the one that connected him to Niall.

“Hey Ni!” He called out, moving faster to make up the distance between them. “Why don’t you carry Eos for a bit, you must be cold, let her warm you up.” Eos clucked in agreement and Kei looked at the boy’s expression, it seemed distant somehow.

The small burden in his pocket suddenly came to the forefront of his thoughts. Over the past couple of days he had been sneaking off and been attempting to make Niall a gift in order to cheer him up. The boy had been gloomy for those past two weeks. Every time Niall had asked him what he was doing Kei would come up with something on the spot and hide the gift. Using excuses like counting blades of grass and watching ants crawl weren’t very good excuses, so he had started excusing himself to an excess amount of bathroom breaks, but he had finished the gift last night while Niall had been sleeping. He hoped more than anything it would brighten his mood.

“Oh and Niall…” He stopped walking, suddenly embarrassed about giving the boy the gift. He cleared his throat and shoved a hand into his pocket, feeling the little wooden figurine he had been working on. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been a little sad lately, so I wanted to do something to make you happy and, um… Here!”

He shoved the gift in the boy’s face before ducking to hide his beet red cheeks. The present as a little wooden phoenix he had carved himself, though if he was honest it hardly looked like a bird let alone a phoenix. The wooden bird was attached to a long cord he had secretly bought on their last trip into a town and he hoped Niall understood that he had tried to make him a necklace.

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Niall sighed as he walked forward one step at a time. He hated winter. Winter was the worst time of year and it was the only time he really hated traveling. It sucked sleeping out in the open regardless, but now it was much colder, and the ground would have snow on it soon. It was also easier to catch your death out here. Not to mention wind whipping at you. All in all, the thought of sleeping out here made him sick. They were going to have to take up lodgings somewhere to keep warm and do something in town to earn their keep. They had enough money to spare for at least a month's stay somewhere cheap but that wouldn't be enough. He hated the idea but maybe he was going to have to sell his skill as a fortuneteller at the next town for a while. Keisuke... he wasn't sure what Keisuke would be able to do.

The young seer glanced back at his companion when he mentioned carrying Eos and gave a nod. He whistled but he didn't really have to. She was already coming towards him. He extended his arm for her but instead of settling there, she decided to perch on his shoulder. She always did like sitting there. He smiled as the young bird nuzzled his face to express her devotion. She really had wormed close to his heart. He never thought that this would be his lot in life; having a Phoenix and a man like Keisuke as his companions. He sighed to himself as he began walking towards the next town.

That was the main thing bugging him to be honest. The town they were coming up towards... this had been his home once upon a time. He was sure his family still lived here and he hadn't traveled in this direction ever since he ran away. He hadn't even realized he was coming towards it until they passed the last town. When he had been a child, he hadn't really cared about the names of other villages and towns that he passed in his bid to escape his fate and now it was too late to turn back. The first heavy snow would be upon them before they could reach the previous town. His little village was their only saving grace.

And if that wasn't bad enough, he was beginning to think Keisuke was going to leave him soon. He kept sneaking off to do something. His excuses were lame and he was really getting worried. Had he done something to upset the man? Was he really pissed off at him for finding a cure for that bruising ailment of his? Did Keisuke really want to die? Niall's grip tightened on his bag and little Eos cooed to him and nipped his ear as if to get his mind off his troubles. He flinched and shrugged his shoulder, causing her to flap her wings to adjust her balance. Niall kept thinking that maybe...maybe he had done Keisuke a disservice by helping him and forcing him to live. It was obvious Keisuke hated his power and what it forced him to do. Would Niall eventually come to hate him to? He didn't want Keisuke to hate him.

When Keisuke called out to him then and stopped walking, Niall turned to face him a bit confused. His eyes widened when he saw the necklace the man presented to him. He was shocked. This is what he had been doing when he ran off? He had been carving him this bird to make him happy again? Niall's lips quirked a moment before he broke into a full on smile and picked up the necklace from his companion.

"For me? You made this? It is beautiful," he answered and caressed the carving. No one had ever given him a gift like this. it wasn't perfect but it was obvious Keisuke had put in a lot of thought and time into this. He quickly put it on then and looked down to see where it hung against his jacket. He caressed it again before he looked over at Keisuke and gave him a hug; the first hug he had ever given someone in ages. "Thank you. I really like it." Eos cooed even as she was displaced thanks to the sudden hug and flew around the two in her happiness. She felt Niall's joy to.