Death is not a fear To those who truly know love For love cannot die Kurayamino snorted derisively as he finished reading the haiku. He had taken a shortcut through someone's backyard and come across it on a bamboo stake. "Romantic nonsense. Everything dies," he said aloud before turning his back on the poem and walking off into the darkness. ******************************************************************** Dark Star, Chapter 14: Love is Strong as Death by: Philip Barkow Dark Star was originally created by the Lady Chaos, known as Chandra Rooney among mundanes. Thanks to Jonatan Streith, Delfina, and Lady Chaos for pre-reading. Thanks to John Evans for supplying information on the festival of Tanabata. ******************************************************************** Tenshi's face held confusion and despair, making her unique in the cheerful throng around her. They were happy people, laughing and dancing. Perhaps afraid that her sadness would destroy their own joy, no gaze rested on her for more than a moment. Thus despite her beauty, Tenshi sat alone in a crowd, her eyes restlessly searching for a love who had awaited her for centuries, and then left without a word. ******************************************************************** The screams of children could be heard as a demon utilized the skills that it had spent years developing. It knew that most mortals would disagree, but it liked to consider what it did to be an art form. "And here's your poodle," Junta said as he handed the balloon animal to the smiling child. ******************************************************************** "All right, I've waited long enough. I'm going without him," Kyoku said with clear frustration in his voice. "Shiko would not be happy to know that we haven't been working together," Miyami replied without making much effort to conceal the implied threat in her tone. "Shiko would be less happy to know that we have not been working," Kyoku replied, before turning and walking towards the lights of the party. ******************************************************************** Nesuni walked into the hotel. "Hello?" she called out to the apparently empty lobby. She was then startled as something green and canine poked its head out from behind the registration desk. "What are you?" she asked nervously. "You can perceive me? Oh sorry, I thought you were a normal human," Joodan replied with slight surprise in his tone. "You thought I was a normal human?" Nesuni responded, her nervousness giving way to a combination of confusion and fear. ******************************************************************** "Oh there you are!" Tenkou said with enthusiasm. "Yes, here I am," Atsuri replied as he smiled charismaticaly. "Come on, let's dance!" "It would be a crime to refuse such a request from one as beautiful as you." ******************************************************************** Despite the crowds of people in the streets, Vincent had somehow managed to find a quiet corner to work on a portrait. Intent as he was upon his work, Hitomi's arrival startled him. "Hello Vincent, why aren't you out enjoying the festivities?" "Oh hi Hitomi!" Vincent replied, surprise clear in his voice. "I just felt that I had to paint this. It happens sometimes, some things just need to be put onto canvas." "I can see you haven't been wasting your time. It's beautiful." "Thank you," Vincent replied, blushing slightly as Hitomi moved near to him as she leaned in to get a closer look at the painting. The painting was not a single scene, but rather it was three images overlapping. One showed a young woman wearing a blindfold standing at a doorway, seemingly uncertain about taking that next step. Another showed Tenshi, held down by dark chains, watching the happy revelers around her with an expression of great despair. The last image showed Dark Star walking along, as something ill defined, but entirely white in color reached out for him. "I have to go now, Vincent. Finish the painting!" Hitomi said, sounding alarmed as she turned and walked hurriedly away. "Okay," Vincent replied, confusion clear in his voice. A moment passed in silence. Then Vincent raised his brush to the picture once more, and delicately added a pair of fangs to one of the revelers one edge of the scene centered on Tenshi. ******************************************************************** Kyoku wandered among the crowd. Snatching a piece of fried chicken off of a buffet table, he caught the eye of an attractive young woman. He smiled at her, and she smiled in return. He began to move towards her as he took a bite of his chicken leg. It made an almost ominous crunching noise. ******************************************************************** Kurayamino came to an abrupt stop as his senses detected the distinctive aura of another demon. After taking a moment to try to determine which way it came from, Kurayamino ran down an alley, only to discover a dead end. Several blocks away Gyoshi jumped a fence and kept on running. ******************************************************************** On the other side of town Vincent daubed his brush in red paint. He couldn't understand the fear he felt as he added blood dripping off of the hands of the sinister reveler. ******************************************************************** "You mean you didn't know?" Joodan asked, honest curiosity and surprise in his voice. "My mother used to tell me stories about magical stars. She claimed that she actually lived through the stories she told me. She'd always make them seem so real. But I thought I outgrew believing them," Nesuni said, confusion clear in her voice. "You can never outgrow the truth, as much as you may try to run from it," a woman's voice said from the corner of the room. "Mother, what are you doing here?" Nesuni asked in surprise. "Right now I'm here because you need me." She turned to Joodan. "Leave us." The Inutatsu fled the room as the Black Star hugged her youngest daughter. ******************************************************************** Gyoshi was breathless by the time he reached his colleagues in their alleyway rendezvous point. "It's about time you got here. Kyoku already left on his own," Naoto said impatiently. "That isn't important. Yasha has managed to place an Baihai Crystal on one of the Stars!" Gyoshi replied, sounding almost panicked. "So what? Let them destroy each other, that way there will be fewer to interfere with the Taisei," Miyami responded dismissively. "If Yasha manages to influence the actions of the Stars, it could disturb the balance. Shiko would not be pleased," Gyoshi said. "Then I suppose we must intervene. Yasha must have some hold on one of the Stars to plant such a device. We must find it and destroy it," Yuji interjected matter-of-factly. "I think I might know what it is, or rather, who she is," Gyoshi said with a distinctly unfriendly grin. ******************************************************************** "You mean I'm going to turn into one of these Stars?" Nesuni asked in a voice full of anxiety. "No. You have the potential to become a Star. That is a role you will only have to assume if one of the existing Stars dies," Kuroi Hoshi responded reassuringly. "So if one of these half-siblings I've never met dies, then I have to give up my humanity?" "Yes. I'm sorry." "How could you do this to me?! Don't you care about me?!" "Yes I care about you," Kuroi Hoshi replied, her voice suddenly more somber. "I care about everyone." Nesuni look into her mother's eyes and for an instant caught a glimpse of the centuries she'd lived, and the terrible burden she'd taken upon herself. Without speaking a word she drew her mother into a hug, the kind of hug she herself had received many times through out her youth. And thusly, she tried to remind her mother that she too was loved. ******************************************************************** Tenkou was startled as Atsuri suddenly stopped dancing. A nearby couple almost bumped into them, but managed to dodge at the last moment, and proceeded to ignore them, dancing off in another direction. "What is it, Atsuri?" Tenkou asked in a bemused tone. "Find Zellar. He can protect you," Atsuri replied, all the warmth gone from his voice. Tenkou turned to Atsuri, for a moment she looked as if she was going to ask a question. But Atsuri was staring intensely at something in the distance, and Tenkou disappeared into the crowd. Atsuri headed off, towards the four unfamiliar demonic auras he sensed. ******************************************************************** "An elephant? Ooh, that's a tricky one. But I think I can manage it," Junta said, returning the child's wide smile. Junta removed a yellow balloon from an oversized pocket, and stretched it out. He then took a deep breath and was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. "Junta, could I talk to you a moment? It's important," Hitomi said, with a distinctly worried tone. "Just a moment," Junta replied, before rapidly finishing the balloon animal. "I'll be back in a moment kids," he said handing the elephant to one of the children around him. Before speaking Hitomi dragged Junta off to a slightly quieter area, nearby. "It's Zellar. I think he's in danger." "Why?" "I just met with Vincent. It was in his painting." "Vincent is a very insightful young man. We'd better find Zellar." "Let's go then." ******************************************************************** Vincent brought his brush to the canvas again. Four of the celebrants around Tenshi spontaneously developed fangs and predatory expressions under his skillful brush strokes. A fifth figure, a tall man, developed a frown and eyes like ice. ******************************************************************** Author's notes: Leaving poems on bamboo stakes in backyards and garden is a Tanabata tradition. The title is from the Torah (though it's also in the Old Testament). The verse it comes from goes: 'Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave.' It's from the Song of Solomon. 'Baihai' is literally translated as 'white evil'. Apologies for the abrupt scene shifts, I was attempting to convey the idea that everything was taking place at once. Beware the Radish http://www.mit.edu/~johne/btr/