Dark Knight's Heir - CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Apr. 6th, 2010 06:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mangacat201Dark Knight's Heir
Author: Mangacat
Pairing: Jared/Jensen, others
Rating: R - NC-17
Parts: 14/25+
Word Count: 3100/80k+
Disclaimer: I totally wanna own them... cough sadly that's not possible, nor is getting paid for this. I'll have fun and they're not going to get hurt … much. Promise.
Warnings: Erm, m/m sex, violence, language, gore (i.e. epic battle of the good against the bad), het sex (OMG), character death (minor).
A/N: Guys, it's time again, my awesome Beta
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candygramme that I don't credit nearly enough has given me an Easter present. Plus Birdie made the art YAY. Anyway, have fun!Masterpost
Castlist
Jared made his way up to the winding staircase and put his hand on the rails. They felt cold in the warm sweaty atmosphere in the club and when he mounted the first steps, all the noise that had been booming around him seemed to recede to a mere echo, as if he had set foot into a different world with only one step up. The stairs led up to a shadowy balcony that seemed to draw back further, the more steps he climbed, although he knew that had to be an illusion. The staircase itself was peculiar as well. From across the room it had looked like a perfectly normal, industrial-style winding staircase, not at all out of place in the grungy factory-hall interior of the Sphinx, but looking at it up close, the metal seemed withered and worn, translucent almost, as if the very core of the construction was laced with age and only held together by tremendous power. He got the urge to step back and leave instantly at the prospect of what might be waiting for him at the top, but the chiming in his mind grew louder with every second he hesitated and when he turned slightly to look over his shoulder, he noticed that the room behind him seemed veiled by a thin glimmering fog. He wasn’t sure if he be able to go the other way if he tried, so he sighed and made his way upward with slight trepidation. When he arrived at the top and looked around, he was utterly surprised at the sight in front of him. Not only did there seem to be no walls and railings or even curtains around the platform, the view was free to look down on the dancing crowd and the bar on all sides without problem.
Up here it looked more like a hippie had exploded in a Mediterranean bathroom. The floor was made of black and shining marble, flawless and pristine. Brightly coloured cushions lay strewn all around the place, and covered two one-armed couches with golden lion’s paws. In between the two couches, going diagonally through the platform, ran a small stream, winding its way down from a natural fountain in the corner furthest away from him. Rose petals bobbed in the swirling water, but otherwise the only flowers in sight were the dried stems of white lilies strewn across every dry surface. A little brazier in the corner next to the couch on the far side of the stream emanated heat, bleary light and the distinctive scent of incense. No one seemed to be there and it didn’t look as if there were any other ways to enter the platform than the stairs behind him. Jared was confused and at a loss as to what do now. The chiming had stopped, so he assumed he’d come to the right place after all, but with no one here to meet him, he had no idea what to do next. Tentatively, he crossed over to the couch nearest to him and tried to sit down without crushing anything too much in the process. Before he had seated himself properly, someone spoke: “We have been waiting…” “… for you for…” “… a long time, Jared.”
He started terribly and plonked down on the cushions without much ceremony, staring dumbfounded at the sitting area on the other side of the water. He instantly spotted three women perched regally in their seats, as if they’d been there all the time. They were all pale, their skin shining blue in places and their eyes dark like icy pools. They all had dark hair of various length and shade and wore gowns that looked almost modern and almost ancient in design, but very cheerful in colour. Two of them sat on couch beside each other and one was kneeling on a cushion to their feet, leaning her back half against her sister’s legs, half against the upholstery, but the most peculiar thing about them was what they were doing with their hands. The one on the right side was spinning a fine thread, delicate fingers flying along the almost invisible shimmering material with strength and precision, twirling and smoothing it as it ran along. The one in the middle took up the thread much like someone collecting the yarn to start up a ball, but instead she held a cat’s cradle in her hands. It looked so complicated that she couldn’t possibly be able to do anything with her hands, let alone transfer the construction in anyway, but she moved her fingers around in fast and confident twists and turns which in turn gave enough length of the yarn to the third one who sat there knitting quickly and merrily, never once hesitating to pluck on the yarn.
Jared gaped at them for a heartbeat or two, taking it all in. Then he gathered his wits about himself and blundered his way through the question: “Who are you?”
The woman on the floor cocked her head slightly in his direction as if the question was puzzling her. Even so, when they answered, they opened their mouth as one, each speaking a part of the sentence in such a perfect flow that it was unnoticeable that there were three different persons speaking.
“Who we are…” “… is not of essence…” “… for you.”
“Important is… what…we know.”
“So… what do you know?”
“Your pain.”
“Your burden.”
“Your destiny.”
Jared stared at them bewildered for a moment. Then his surprise fed the simmering rage that still made his blood rush with righteous indignation.
“Right. What if I want nothing to do with this destiny?”
They laughed simultaneously, but in three completely different pitches that sounded strangely in tune with each other – like little tinkling bells.
“You are amusing, boy destiny will not ask when she steps over your threshold. We are the Fates; we know all about that. Destiny - fickle little thing when you meet her.”
It took Jared a moment to process the fact that he had a triad of Greek Goddesses sitting on a couch before him, or at least that was what they claimed to be. In this world, he couldn’t be sure of anything. They watched him though and from their slight grins and the mischievous glint in their eyes, he guessed that they’d caught on to his last thought and found it very entertaining. And considering the way they had shaped their surroundings and the atmosphere, they probably were the real deal too. Just his luck.
“So, what’s my destiny then?”
“Slay evil… save your people… protect the city.”
Jared sat back against the backrest of the couch and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Wow, now that was not entirely vague,” he bit out in a sarcastic tone. “And how am I to do that all alone?”
“Not alone, silly, you know who - you’ll learn how.”
“Well, since we’re discussing questions of profound existential value, why me?”
That actually made them chuckle and glance at each other.
“You know it… feel it… it’s in your blood.”
These words made Jared jump up and pace relentlessly over the platform in front of the couch, thrusting his hands into his hair to tug on it in obvious distress.
“I… I can’t, I mean, you got it all wrong… you all got it wrong, I’m not.. I’m not some kind of hero that just goes there and.. jeez, why can’t you just leave me out of all this?”
“Because someone has to do it.”
“I don’t believe it. I’m not going to do it. And you can tell whoever thinks otherwise that they can stuff it. Really.”
The middle one of the sisters fixed her eyes on him while her fingers moved the thread in her hands into a circular pattern that resembled a little pocket of a closely woven net. Then she suddenly spoke on her own and the pitch of her voice without the others made shivers run up and down his spine.
“Then I might just as well rip this to pieces, don’t you think?”
She blinked down at the intricate web for a moment and then instantly pinned him again with her gaze. Jared stepped back involuntarily and tried to discern what she meant by that.
“Well, it’s a beautiful piece of work, I’d imagine that would be a right pity, but you’ve got to decide that for yourself,” he shrugged.
“I see, very well then lets try something.“
Jared watched with an impending sense of doom how she blew onto the yarn and caused a shimmering thread to rise out of the coil and swirl around in thin air as if it was much too light to be bothered by gravity. Now that it was separated from the others, he noticed that the inherent light seemed to dim and increase in a regular rhythm and Jared recognized it almost instantly resembling a heartbeat. The sister that was still spinning winked at him before she turned back to watch her sister work without even once hesitating with her own task. The thread in the air began to move in a more deliberate motion as if there was a shape it was coiling around, and before Jared could ponder why it looked vaguely familiar the middle sister spread her fingers wide and pulled the thread tight in the process. The effect was instantaneous, and Jared felt it in a completely unexpected way.
Like an iron fist around his heart, the feeling of a burning wire seared through his insides, bringing him to his knees. Gasping for breath, he felt his fingers claw involuntarily at his chest in a feeble attempt to lessen the pain. The intense agony made his back arch, and his vision swim and darken around the edges, a silent scream flowing from his lips.
The torture ended as soon as it had begun though; it ended the moment the goddess let up and allowed the thread to fall back into the coil as if nothing had happened. He knew though, since it had left him breathing harshly, hands braced on his thighs and his head bowed after the invisible onslaught.
“You see, you should not show us cheek like that if you’re not prepared to deal with us.”
Jared peered up at them through his bangs and nodded slowly. He’d been thoroughly cured of the thought that he could get out of this unscathed. But he also knew that threatening his life was not the core of the lesson. The lesson lay in all the other threads, every strand standing for the life of a person that would end if the web was destroyed.
“A lot of people will die if you don’t step up to your proper place. You WILL meet your fate.”
Jared felt like crying then and there, because finally, things had become too much for him. Only one day before, he’d been a little office worker leading a thoroughly boring life. But it had been safe, too. Now he was supposed to step in and play hero for a lot of people that didn’t even KNOW they were in danger, because there was apparently a whole city under his city that had a different kind of power. He covered his mouth and eyes with his hands and fought not to sob out loud while he tried to keep it together in front of these powerful creatures that could kill him by literally lifting one finger. An encompassing fear burned low in his belly, because he was alone facing this terrible task, with no one to trust, no one to turn to and nowhere to hide. Suddenly, all the anxiety pooled together and then flooded through his body in a rush that took his breath away, and the marks on his arms all but flared up alongside it. It wasn’t the slow burn from when he’d gotten them, but a sharp pulse, echoing his frantic heartbeat. Unexpectedly though, there was an answer in the form of a soothing calm trickling in, mollifying his senses and anchoring his mind. Suddenly, it was a lot easier to breathe, and the fog that had clouded his vision for a moment lifted in an instant. He felt as if someone was almost touching him, comforting and rubbing little circles on his back. Jared knew it was an illusion – even so, he couldn’t help but take solace from it and finally managed to gather his wits about himself again. He took a deep breath and faced the women again. They answered his stare with such a blank look of eerie indifference that he wouldn’t have believed them capable of caring what happened to the city if he hadn’t felt very immediately to what lengths they were prepared to go to persuade him.
“The last word’s not spoken on this one.”
The Fates bowed their heads slightly, and a simultaneous smirk on their lips told him that statement hadn’t made the kind of impact he’d hoped.
“Indeed it isn’t, still, please accept our parting gift.”
The sisters suddenly ceased any movement, and, for a heartbeat, the world seemed to slow to a stop. The third sister let go of the needles long enough to plunge her hand into the bunch of fabric that lay coiled beside her. Out of the thread of life she pulled a delicate little pipe as long as his pinky maybe and made from a material that seemed to be ice, but was more likely some sort of very fine crystal. A little chain was attached to it so that one might wear it around the neck. She blew on it and it rose into the air as if it only weighed as much as a feather and when he put out his hand it floated down slowly until it touched his palm with a little clink and lay there cool against his skin and somehow oddly familiar. When the sisters resumed their work again, his heart gave an unpleasant lurch of speed that settled slowly from an adrenaline rush to a calmer beat.
“We have kept it safe for a long time, so that the last heir might claim it as a rightful keepsake of his family. It was made so that the ones that cannot see with their mind might see with their eyes.”
Jared wondered whether they could have been any more vague, but then again, they were the tellers of fortune, it was probably kind of in their job description. He thought that Jensen might know what to do with this thing, and then his breath hitched for a second thinking about the other man and being unable to decide whether to try and find his way back to him or out of all this somehow. When he looked up again, the Fates were idly going about their business and seemed to have forgotten he was even there. He took it as a safe bet that he was dismissed. Sighing heavily, he got to his feet and turned around to trudge down the stairs. When he shot a last look over his shoulder, Jared found the couch empty and the whole platform devoid of life. He wondered if everything he’d experienced here had been an elaborate hallucination… only the solid weight of the little pipe in his palm assured him that there had been something. While he trudged down the stairs – the noise and light of the club suddenly much more elevated than before – he tugged the little chain over his head and let the little pipe falls securely between the folds of his shirt. Now he only had to go and figure out a way to get out of this place.
On the last step he hesitated for a moment, trying to get his bearings again as well as to figure out what to do now. The night life in the club was in full swing and bodies where swerving and gyrating all around him even if they couldn’t touch him on the stairs. He knew only one way out of this establishment and he seriously doubted he’d be able to draw up enough courage to attempt the elaborate piece of magic he’d unconsciously performed in a bout of anger earlier. And even if he could manage to open the portal without dashing himself to pieces, he had absolutely no clue how to make it send him back to where he’d come from instead of some place that was potentially even more dangerous and dark than this one. His fist closed around the rails of the staircase with obvious agitation while he scanned the crowd for any hint that would help him decide on the next course of action. Helpless frustration and despair was just about to creep back up his consciousness, when a glimpse to the other end of the room made him draw a startled breath. It was impossible to tell for sure with the blinding lights and dark hues all around, but he was almost certain he’d seen a familiar face bob up over there. A flood of relief rushed through him, and Jared staggered down the last step and into the crowd in the rough direction he’d seen his mark. Suddenly the crowd seem oppressive and unyielding instead of dynamic, people blocking his path from all sides, while he tried to scramble through to get to the other side as fast as possible. At least, when he was halfway across the dance floor, he caught another glimpse of the man assured him that he had not erred, and with elated joy he called out the name even if there was next to no chance of actually being heard over the music. Still, he must have caught a stroke of luck because a moment later the man turned, and their eyes met with a spark lighting up in their gazes at having found each other. Jared felt dizzy with relief now and struggled to get through the final throng of people. However, before he could take another step, a strong hand suddenly closed around his elbow and spun him around with considerable force to meet a whole different pair of eyes.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 04:39 pm (UTC)I love this so much, I'm on the edge of my seat right now, whose eyes are they?
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 06:28 pm (UTC)Cat
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 06:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 06:38 pm (UTC)Cat
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 05:29 pm (UTC)I absolutely need more ASAP!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 06:28 pm (UTC)Cat
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 06:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 06:29 pm (UTC)Cat
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 06:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 07:05 pm (UTC)Cat
SO GOOD.
Date: 2010-04-06 07:18 pm (UTC)Re: SO GOOD.
Date: 2010-04-06 07:23 pm (UTC)Cat
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 08:32 pm (UTC)Ooh... that sounds interesting. But I can't believe you left me like that! I mean, who did he see in the club, and who was it that grabbed him right at the end? Argh, I'll be running through different scenarios until this is updated again.
Excellent job, bb!
♥♥dani
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 09:23 pm (UTC)Cat
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 08:56 pm (UTC)Loved the original charmed ones in this,
perfect for the fates! More questions than
answers - although they said he wouldn't be
alone - hope Jared took that on board!
Assuming that was Jensen he saw acoss the room,
but the other set of eyes - Tom? Nah, don't think
so, Mary's - but what would see have to gain?
How about Chris - wanna kick his arse for
making Jensen worry?
Don't know - don't keep us waiting long, want more
now!!!!!!
Great update Cat!
Hugs
Xxxx
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-06 09:25 pm (UTC)Cat
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-07 05:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-07 06:18 am (UTC)Cat
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-09 02:29 pm (UTC)may I guess? I think that the first pair of eyes belonged to Tom, but the second to Jensen, who came just in time to save his damsel))))
(no subject)
Date: 2010-04-09 08:16 pm (UTC)Cat