[log] [complete] [part 2]

[for-destiny.livejournal.com]

When; April 05, early morning
Rating; PG
Characters; Jowy [for_destiny] & Riou [bright_shield]
Summary; When Jowy and Riou wake up, the effects of Yurika's cookies have worn off. They have a long-awaited talk and try not to kill each other while at it ♥ [PART 2]
Log;

That doesn't mean I'm running away--

The smile that Riou bit back was more sorrowful, than pleased. That sounded like him, his own recent words reflected back at him. But even still, if it meant that he didn't have to fight Jowy, that they both could live peacefully, even if separated by worlds or dimensions or whatever it was...

Do you really think it's going to be that simple?

Riou's fingers brushed absentmindedly across the back of his right hand. No gloves to hinder him this time. "Will your rune really accept that?" he asked. "It's not... acting up, is it?"

In its own way, Jowy knew the Black Sword Rune had been acting up. It had been acting up then, rather strongly, perhaps to mirror his wish to turn back and run from his destiny. He shook his head. "Not yet," he admitted. His eyebrows knitted. He didn't want to talk about it either - he knew Riou would probably literally run away from him if he brought it up now, but... Eventually, they would have to talk about it.

"We'd have to talk about it. What to do with it--" Jowy tried to sound indifferent and matter-of-fact. He hoped his calm would infect Riou too... make him stay long enough to talk about it. "Han Cunningham and Genkaku sealed it - but it would be cruel to do so--" Riou should know. Would Riou really want to seal it knowing it would find another set of bearers one day and, if not start a war, pit those two against each other... destroying another friendship? "--don't you think?"

Riou tilted his head and frowned, leaning back against the wall. At the least he could relax a bit, as Jowy didn't seem inclined to attack him. "If we sealed them here, wouldn't they be trapped within the city? Don't they have to return eventually, as they're supposedly the pillars of our world?"

In truth it was a little confusing how the runes had been able to leave the world in the first place. There seemed to be no bad side effects to it-- perhaps it had something to do with the timeflow between the worlds. He had heard that time flowed differently here... he certainly hoped so. He had been stuck here for several weeks now and didn't relish the thought that he might have gone missing during an important mission for the same amount of time back home.

"They'd find a way back, I'm sure they will - and even then, they could probably just stay--" People in the city didn't die permanently, not usually. And even then, he'd heard of the deities granting wishes, bringing people to life with the proper sacrifice. "People don't usually stay dead here, Riou."

"I don't think the runes could stay here eternally--" said Riou and his frown deepened. "And sometimes people do stay dead for good. What are you getting at?" He stiffened again, something about Jowy's tone making him suspicious once more.

Dense as always. For the better maybe. That must have been part of the reason people were drawn to him. Jowy was not, of course. "It means that even if I died here, I wouldn't die. I would continue living--" A half-life, but it was still a life. "I just wouldn't be able to leave anymore."

Damn, he couldn't possibly be suggesting..."...and why would you suddenly drop dead like that?" Riou asked calmly, every muscle within his body on edge once again.

"One of us has to die, right? If we can't find another way." Jowy spoke coolly, as if he was talking about something trivial, like the weather. "I was thinking it would be killing two birds with a stone too. I don't mind staying here." I don't want to die but...

Riou stared at the cool countenance of Jowy's face. Was this some new trick? Jowy said it so lightly... Hello, how are you? I'd like some tea today. How about a walk. Let's duel to the death.

"Are you crazy?!" he finally erupted. "You want us to duel for the Rune of Beginning? Here? For no good reason!"

For no good reason? For no good reason?!

That sparked something inside Jowy. He snapped at Riou, eyes sharp and burning with something akin to anger and disbelief. " For no good reason, Riou? What about the war? Highland? Nanami--" He clenched his fists. "If you can't understand that then think about what would happen if we ran away some more. I know I have!"

"Jowston and Highland and Dunan are not here!" Riou snapped back at Jowy. "And Nanami is dead and the Rune of Beginnings isn't going to bring her back!"

And she had seemed so heartbroken in Matilda, when he and Jowy had been on the edge of fighting. If I could have gotten to her sooner... just one heartbeat sooner...

"Then that's your way of thinking? The past is the past--?" Jowy laughed mockingly. "Then their deaths -- it's all for nothing because it's in the past? Life isn't that simple, Riou! Aren't you thinking? I said - if we ran away... did you think about what would happen? We'd grow old, we'd die one way or another and this-" He lifted his right hand and pointed at it accusingly, showing Riou the dark mark that was the Black Sword Rune. "This will just move on to someone, maybe an unsuspecting kid like you, with a life, a cute little sister, a friend-- do you really want him to go through what you did, Riou? Do you?"

He stopped himself there, taking a deep breath. However he tried to mask his anger though, it still became apparent. His voice was shaking as he struggled to keep himself from raising his voice anymore. "We have a chance to end it." Here.

"And if we dueled and the full rune went to you or me-- that's if the rune can even be formed here!-- then what? You or I-- we'd live forever? Ageless yes, but truly immortal, no. We know they can die, be killed. So we die eventually, perhaps sooner than later, and then the rune splits and it starts all over again anyway.

And even so, it wasn't Bright Shield or Black Sword that started that war and it wasn't them that kept it going. It wasn't Bright Shield that made me become the leader of the New Alliance Army and Black Sword didn't force you to become the King of Highland. Those were our own choices, every step of the way that led us to that point. There was always a choice for us, in the past and now, and for all the people who came before us and those who'd come after!

Is your choice always going to be killing and death?!" Riou clutched at his hand and felt the heat in his words mirrored therein. His eye caught the gleam of Bright Shield, glowing freely without its usual hindering glove.

"My choice isn't always going to be killing and death!" Jowy cried. He swept his right hand across to display his anger. "It's the logical choice over running away - and even then, do you think Jeane will let us seal the runes? No, she won't! One day, these things are going to overcome us and who's to say you'll die as soon as you get the rune! At least it would be over then!

And don't make me laugh, Riou. The reason you were set up to be the leader of the Jowston army is because of your rune, the Bright Shield. It was Genkaku's symbol. Wasn't it? Don't you forget it! As for me--" He lifted his right hand again to give Riou a good view of the Black Sword. As with the Bright Shield, it was glowing too, perhaps to mirror its kindred. "This is the reason I was kept alive by Luca Blight, and respected by the Highland soldiers enough. And you say such pretty words about there always being a choice for us -- do you honestly believe that? There were choices but would you or I have taken them...? Could you have left Jowston and Highland in the state it was in before?!"

"There's always another way! I'm not saying we should seal the runes and fob the responsibility off on someone else-- but even that is better than what you're suggesting! If we're both so weak as to have no choice with a half rune what in the hell do you think is going to happen if one of us had the Rune of Beginnings?" Riou alternated glaring between Jowy and the glowing Black Sword and down upon his own pulsing Bright Shield.

"And I know very well why I was set up as the figurehead of the New Alliance Army-- because I was the adopted son of the great hero Genkaku and had his rune. A symbol for everyone else to rally around."

--but I eventually became more than that, didn't I?--

"Bright Shield-- and Black Sword-- may have opened doors to us that may have otherwise been closed, but we both walked through those doors of our own free will! I didn't have to accept and I most certainly didn't have to stay; no one would have had the power to stop me if I had decided to run away..."

--like she wanted--

"Are you saying all those things you did were because of Black Sword?! All the suffering that this drawn out war brought to both countries-- I would most certainly have been willing to compromise to avoid prolonging that like at the peace conference!"

Jowy tilted his chin upwards and seemed to transform into the King of Highland once again right before Riou's eyes. "I did it because I wanted to create a better world, a better future that would stand the test of time. I should have gone through with it, but I was weak. Culgan and Leon were both right about the peace being temporary if we decided to call it a truce then -- you think I didn't think sincerely of peace after Luca Blight's death?"

Jowy paused, taking long drawn out breathes to once again regain his composure. Finally, he asked,  "Who won the war, Riou, in the end? You're stronger than I am."

"I-- I don't really know what was going through your head, Jowy. I thought-- no, I don't understand. You think showing mercy, compassion-- compromise-- is weak? The peace of the sword, the peace of the grave... you really think you could have created a lasting peace that way? By conquering everyone? What about the other surrounding countries, would you conquer them too when they caused trouble?" Riou dropped his eyes. The cold visage of Jowy just then-- no, the King of Highland-- he found to be vastly more disturbing than perhaps it warranted.

"Nothing lasts forever. Maybe Highland and Jowston would have been at each other's throats as soon as you and I stepped down as their respective leaders. Maybe the entire area would have gone up in civil war the moment you died if you had been successful. Maybe Harmonia would invade and conquer everyone! You're going to give up all hope for peace in the present just because it might possibly be broken in the future?!" Riou spoke quickly, his tone far more forceful than normal.

"And the war was won because of all the people in the New Alliance-- Dunan-- fighting for what they believed in, for everything worth protecting. Not because of me. Who would not be strong at all if I agreed to what you're proposing!"

The expression on the blond monarch's face softened and he seemed to sigh. "There is a time for compassion, for mercy, and for compromise -- there's also a time to be ruthless and right then... that was the best option. But I didn't take it....

Is it wrong to safeguard the future, Riou? I believe, believed, whatever the means... it must be justified by the end I was aiming for. In the end, you won, and we have a new country -- all that we have left to worry about are the runes."

"You really think that would have ended it then, if you had killed me? You may have managed to do it with your thousand arrows, but you couldn't have killed us all there-- I wouldn't have allowed it and I am the shield-- and do you think anyone in Jowston would have surrendered to you after that, knowing what you did under the flag of truce? They would have fought until the bitter end. Would you have killed everyone then?" Riou clenched his right fist, his eyes riveted to the rune within it. It was throbbing harder and he-- Riou flicked his eyes worriedly to Jowy's right hand before continuing.

"And the means always justifying the ends... is a very scary concept. Absolutely anything could be justified that way. Even what Luca Blight was doing-- if he had managed to wipe out everyone it would have been very bloody peaceful after that!"

"I didn't want to kill you! I gave you the chance to back down from your post! And you and I both know that Luca Blight's methods could never be justified! He wanted to wipe out a whole country! Civilians, soldiers, he had no qualms about it! And even then, none of us planned to massacre the Jowston people -- they would always -- have always had the option to surrender peacefully." Jowy tried to ignore the rune on his right hand. So close. End it here. Live.

I don't have a reason to kill Riou.

"Don't talk so righteously, Riou -- you tell me I would have killed everyone? What did your men do to those who defended L'Renouille?"

"Much-- too much-- of the New Alliance Army were civilians, those who had nothing left for them but to fight," Riou mused, almost to himself. Head tilted down, dark bangs fell across his face, shading his eyes from view. He had half turned from Jowy, gaze fixated on his own rune. "That's not much of a choice, Jowy. What would you have done if they refused? They wouldn't have surrendered. I don't think anyone in the castle would have. Not after the peace conference; they wouldn't have trusted you not to kill them even if they had. Would you have killed them all then?"

These differences are insurmountable. This fight is inevitable. Dunan, Highland, nameless city... it doesn't matter. This is fate.

No, it's not!

"The Highland Army was... annihilated. That's something I will have to bear for the rest of my life. But until the end, they at least had one choice that you refused to give us. They could have turned away. Until that point, Highland never had to surrender.  But we never could do that, turn away, seek peace, or compromise. Always such an extreme... surrender completely or fight to the death."

"You mean the option you refused to take --" Jowy's tone was quiet and serious. "And I would have killed them if they refused to surrender and fought once more -- but that doesn't matter, does it? Highland lost." In the end, whatever I could have done had things ended differently doesn't matter and should not be... thought about like this.

"Riou," he began softly. "What do you think we could possibly do now?"

"I couldn't turn away and leave them when they had no means of doing that themselves," said Riou without looking at the other boy. The heat was beginning to pulse up his arm, just as if he was using Bright Shield in battle.

And he-- he really would have killed them. No... no... Stop it, stop it... calm down, calm down... Riou did not know if he was telling that to himself or to the rune.

You see him-- them-- as he truly is. The attacker, the aggressor, the other who must be defended against.

He has not changed since the war. Perhaps he has always been this way and what you knew before was a lie.

If you won't do as he says, he will kill you. Just as before. Strike him down before he strikes you!

"Shut up," Riou whispered and paused, heart hammering in his chest, before he continued in a louder voice. "We could start by not killing each other."

I won't kill you . I can't kill you.

"That's a good idea." Jowy laughed lightly. This was so frustrating. Even the rune on his right hand thought so. And it burned, so strong it was almost as if his hand were really burning. Was Riou feeling that too? Still, he kept up an unaffected front. This was nothing compared to what he'd had to endure before. "Then we'll worry about what to do with the runes..."

Riou tore his eyes away from Bright Shield to glance guardedly at Jowy. Was he really being serious or merely sarcastic? After all his previous talk of the only way of ending it was to form the Rune of Beginning, which could only be accomplished through one of their deaths.

"I think their will to battle could be suppressed if we both worked at it. After all, we aren't even in their natural world now..." he said carefully.

"We probably could -- " Jowy closed his eyes and sighed. He clasped his hands together then, left hand covering his right, as if to pacify it. "--Until then, it would probably be wise... to avoid being in each other's physical presence, at least."

"Agreed," said Riou as he began to sidle carefully towards the door. He allowed his arms to drop and ignored the waves of heat spiraling up his right arm and across his body. He was mildly surprised that his affected appendage wasn't shooting off sparks and spits of flame as it was.

Jowy nodded wordlessly and waited for Riou to leave before leaning onto the nearest platform for support. The heat dissipated eventually, but the rune hissed at the back of his mind; You should have taken that chance. Cut him down.

With one last backward glance, Riou slipped out of the room and stole through the rest of the apartment. Once he had reached the safety of the outer hallway, he sighed and slumped back against the wall, his left hand coming up to massage at his temples.

That... could have gone worst. It could have gone a lot better as well, but for a moment Riou had worried that a Forgiver Sign was about to coalesce. God... what had it been, nearly a week that they'd spent together? And what was now most painful of all had been that first day, before they had become children, when they had simply been themselves, free of the memories of the war.

Should I have said something else? A goodbye at least... he wondered.

He's lying to you. He has no intention of suppressing Black Sword. There can be no compromise with that kind. You know he'll come after you again... it's inevitable.

"Oh well," said Riou as he straightened up and shrugged his shoulders.

His last apartment had been within this very building... he would need to move his paltry possessions as soon as possible. And keep moving them each night, from building to building, from apartment to apartment, as he had been since arriving here. He'd be rather hard to catch.

"At least I rather like the lie this time."