The Circle of Darkness by Jennifier D. Author's notes: This is something which has been bothering me since my exams and I shoved it aside so that I can study properly and not go crazy while trying to figure out how the hell I'm supposed to work this out. And I'm still can't work this out. I guess I'll just have to take it slowly as I progress then, otherwise, nothing will come out of this. Another note here is the disbanding of Malice Mizer was what which prodded me into writing this fic again, somehow. But the warning here is these series of fanfics are going to be different, yet same as the reality we know. Do you understand what I'm saying? Oh, and did I forget to mention OOC-ness...? Disclaimers: All characters are not owned by me [I _wish_] but the setting and ideas are original. Date started: 271201 I: Five hundred years ago, after the fall of the supposed last Shadow Mage, the Oracles predicted the rising of yet another one in the distant future. The next was going to be far more powerful and power hungry than the last. Never mind the fact that a Shadow Mage was already powerful enough that it would have to take six Level One mages to curb him, but only barely. Shadow Mages apparently had a long history of being either mad, or power hungry, and had always attempted to force some sort of enslavement on the normal world during their time. This time, the new Shadow Mage that was to arrive was no better than the last. In fact, he was going to be worse, attempting to influence the world with the Dark Arts through music. Yet, all Oracles who gave that prediction also gave an enigmatic smile, and murmured "Even the most powerful have their own weaknesses." One of the most powerful Oracles to have ever lived muttered on his deathbed with a smile: The future may be undecided, but the framework for progression has already been set. Light will have its Dark side, for without darkness, light cannot exist. When the time comes, the Dreamers will return. Nobody ever understood what he was saying, because this prediction was simply a jumble of sentences. Yet, many still held onto hope. After all, the term 'Dreamers' have only been heard in folklore, describing two individuals who were two halves of a whole. They might look alike, yet they might also differ from each other so much that you wouldn't think they were actually a single being. The Dreamers were always seen in these forms: One who was eternally young, and the other who was eternally old. They were rumoured to be beings who would rise when the human population was in peril and halt whatever crazy mission the succeeding mage had set out to accomplish. But they would never reveal themselves, unless there was no choice left. Another word the Oracles had used to describe the Dreamers was 'Balance'. They were the balance keepers, and they were intent on keeping balance no matter what happened. The last time the Dreamers appeared was a thousand years ago, and because of that, many believed that they would appear again, should the need arise. And surely, as the Oracles have predicted, darkness rose forth again. Only a distant echo of the dying Oracle's words remained to give the White Mages hope to work against the perils they were going to face. [When the time comes, the Dreamers will return.] ----- Footsteps echoed down the dark hallway as their owners moved in a smooth and graceful flowing gait, like darting shadows in the darkness. The hallway was dark enough that it would be impossible to make out their faces, yet they proceeded without a hitch. The four moving fragments of darkness finally came to a stop a little way off from a pair of giant oak doors. The leader of the group slipped his hood off his head, revealing a head full of blue curls and an expression that could freeze blood upon sight. A man with dark brown hair was waiting at where they stopped, and upon seeing the blue-haired man, he bowed gracefully. He then got onto one knee on the floor; his head bent low before the other. The blue-haired man lifted his hand, and the other took it, pressing a soft kiss on the back of the hand. "Konbawa, Mana-sama." The man remained in that position until the pale, slender hand turned in his loose grasp and lifted his chin gently. Mana smiled when he saw the owner of that beautiful face watching him intently, his eyes betraying far much more than his actions did. "You may rise, Gakuto." Gackt rose from the floor, his face remaining expressionless as he took Mana's arm and escorted the man into the next room. A luminous flame ignited itself and hovered about a foot above their heads, lighting their way for the rest of the hallway. "I see that you have been making progress, Gakuto." Mana's voice echoed down the hallway as he walked on with Gackt on his side. "The council is happy." The heavy oak doors swung open slowly, and when the five of them finally stepped into the gigantic conference room, lights started to ignite themselves all over the table and the corners of the room. Gackt led Mana to a seat at the head of the table, then sat down next to him gracefully, like a giant cat sinking into a couch. "You may all sit." Mana voice was like ice, chilling the occupants of the room as it reached them. An assortment of coloured hair filled the room; red, purple, blond, blue and the list went on. Various members of the Visual Kei community sat at the long table, all dressed decently in dark robes. Some of them looked more tired than usual, some of them nervous, and others looked plain bored. A blonde sitting on the right side of the table snorted. He didn't even bother to rise and greet Mana when the latter appeared. He knew that Mana couldn't do anything to him although he was openly disrespectful. The blonde honestly couldn't give a damn about the blue-haired man. The internal politics of this council was more complicated than what met the eye and he was quite adamant to be not involved in any of it ever since he stepped down. If Mana was bothered by what he did, he showed no signs of it. "Our Oracles have Seen that the other side is starting to take action again, and this time, they will be merciless. Also, I have noticed the increased amount of females in our field, and that can prove to be dangerous. But that is not most important thing now." "As you all know, we have been filtering our mages into the White faction, and we have been quite successful, up until the point where they were discovered and forced to leave." Mana shot a look to the blonde, who ignored him, his dark shades making it impossible for anyone to see his eyes. "But only Gakuto and Pierrot have been successful so far." All eyes swivelled to focus on Gackt, who was also known as the Dark Prince among the rest of the artists. He was one of the oldest and most powerful Dark Mages they had now, a Level One mage of the Illusion principle. Those rumors which said that he was four hundred and sixty one years old seemed to be true, as none of the mages who had lived and died ever recalled seeing the vocalist aging. Nobody knew what was going on behind that beautiful face, and many dared not venture there, cease they find their own deaths lurking within the depths of the mage's mind. The blonde snorted. Mana's rise to power had been a rather recent affair; it started somewhere back in 1996 when Gackt finally joined Malice Mizer. After the beautiful vocalist joined the band, Mana found the perfect partner to accompany him in his meditations. Due to a freak accident, the blue-haired guitarist discovered that he was the new Shadow Mage as predicted by the Oracles five hundred years ago. In each era, there would always be a Shadow Mage present. This mage would be someone who had the powers of all the different principles, something which was technically impossible since they are known to have either one principle only, or a combination of two to three. The setback about have more than one principle was it led to the power being divided fairly between the two or three principles, causing each ability to be greatly weakened. Yet this was not the case with Mana. He had the powers of a full fledge mage of every single principle, which would make him seem like a walking time bomb at times. Because the amount of power and authority the blue-haired guitarist held was amazing, nobody ever really dared to venture in testing the limits of Mana's abilities. Those who did never lived to tell what they found out. The meeting proceeded in its usual fashion, the different sections handing up their reports and progress. Finally, after what seemed like an endless amount of papers later, Mana stood up and declared the meeting over. After each of the respective Visual Kei artists had teleported themselves out, or left through the door, there was only the blond left sitting at the table looking disdainful. "So, you seem pretty willing to let your pet loiter with your enemies, Mana." The blonde spoke, a sneer marring his usual calm face. His voice was soft, but the venom behind those words was thick enough that even an idiot would notice. "Aren't you afraid that someone will take your toy from you? After all, he _is_ hanging around with the leader of the White faction." Mana turned to regard the blonde, then smiled humorlessly. "I'm grateful for your concern, but I trust Gakuto. I'm sure everyone knows that, including himself. Ne, Gakuto?" "Of course, Mana-sama." Gackt's voice was like a soft caress, but he simply stared ahead, his face expressionless. At that, Mana laughed. "So I hope you understand, Yoshiki-_sama_... that my followers are _always_ loyal." Before Mana walked out of the doors, he paused and tilted his head to one side, regarding the drummer quietly with a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Unlike yours, of course." With that, the effeminate guitarist left the room. Yoshiki was left sitting on his chair, scowling deeply as he hissed the name of a friend who had died under Mana's ruling. "hide..." ----- The principle of magic in the current world had been simple to the point where even little children could grasp it, yet humans had always remained awfully oblivious to their own surroundings. It had probably been from the fact that humans could do a lot less harm to themselves with the absence of magic. Or that they could be really blind when it came to facing things they didn't want to believe in. In this world, you were supposed to be practical. The existence of magic shouldn't be allowed, and because of that, magic users chose not to let the world be aware of their existence. And little did normal people know, as they continued with the hustle and bustle of their lives, that the magical world was far more dangerous than they imagined. It had nothing to do with waving wands or muttering spells, but it had everything to do with thoughts. A powerful Level One mage of any principle could cast spells by thoughts alone. That was one of the reasons why they had always been very careful, very aloof people. Carelessness had been the cause of one too many accidents, even at times risking the attention of normal folks. Carelessness had also been, in many cases, the cause of their own death. Yet, magic was simple to understand and use, once you had grasp the technicalities of it. As to how you were going to use it, it was all up to the individual. It could be identified in the same way as how different people would go about molding the same shape from a piece of clay in different manners. Some would do the base first, some would start from the top. Either way, the final product would still be the same. That was similar to how magic worked. You could cast spells by muttering the words for a desired effect, you could do it by pure thought alone, or you could even manage it with a few gestures. The result would still be the same spell. The vocal option though, was probably the least favoured one, since it was a sign of ignorance and inexperience. Unless the mage was so weak-- that he had to resort to doing that, no dignified mage would care to open their mouths in order to utter spells. Now, to make it possible to explore their magic principles in detail, you had to start from the six basic principles: Fire Water Air Earth Dream Illusion The four elemental principles were considered to be lower level principles, whereas Dream and Illusion were the higher level principles. Now, at this point, people would usually be confused enough to ask: So what was the difference between Dream and Illusion, and how could they be stronger than the other four? Dream and Illusion were the supposed higher level principles because they controlled realities. Actually, their main difference was that one dealt with the subconscious mind, while the other, the conscious mind. That might not seem to be very impressive to certain people, especially if they were strong-willed individuals, yet here was the catch. Dream and Illusion mages could control the four elements effectively within their own domain. That was to say: The moment you were trapped in a Dream or an Illusion, you would be at the mercy of the mage. That was because whatever ability you had, it was more likely than not that the other had them as well inside his reality. And he would be far stronger in it than you were, due to the circumstances. This was one reason why, when Dream and Illusion mages clash, it often resulted in the death of either one of them before the duel would end. Although the two were equal in levels of power when it came to comparing across principles, Illusion mages were always known to be slyer. Yet, Dream mages could be really cruel at times, since they had the ability to destroy the subconscious. But the principles were only a simple way to separate the higher level mages from the lower level ones, and even then, they had another way of classification. Mages can be classified into four levels, with Level One being the strongest, and Level Four- the weakest. Two mages of the same principle may both be a Level One mage, but they might differ, as between them, there was still a possibility of one being stronger than the other. A Level One mage of any principle would be stronger than lower level mages of the same, or other principles. In situations where a lower level mage actually won in a duel against a higher level mages, he could have done it either with luck or with planning. Currently, all the mages were separated into two major factions: White Dark Instead of the usual 'Light' and 'Dark', or 'White' and 'Black', both factions decided what they wanted to be called, and that was how it resulted in these two names. After all, to be called a 'Light mage' had sounded really dumb, just like to be called a 'Dark mage' held the intonations of being 'cool'. After all, 'Black mage' was not exactly the most favourable way for one to be called, and this was agreed by those who thought that 'Light mage' sounded dorky. Putting this small distraction aside, we would come to realise that the Dark faction was expanding far much faster than the White. The speed was uncanny, because-- spanning in the short period of twenty years, they had managed to increase their members by threefold. This was causing a severe disruption to the balance between the two factions and it had caused the unhappiness of many. But it was only the White mages complaining. The Dark mages seemed perfectly comfortable with that arrangement. White mages were few, but powerful, just as there were plenty of Dark mages who were not on par with their opponents. In regards as to why these two coalitions were formed, it was still something of a mystery. Their history went back a long way, and neither party was really interested in knowing how they got there, but only in the fact that they were simply _there_. Therefore, nobody ever took notice of the fact that Shadow Mages always seemed to be of the dark and not the light. Some suspected that he actually had the ability to side with either, but being on the Dark side simply meant that he could get away with doing a lot more awful things than if he was in the White faction. After all, nobody really knew what was going in the heads of those people. This time, the Shadow Mage seemed to be sane, which had caused many to worry. When all was said and done, it was still much easier to deal with a crazy man than a sane man. A sane man had _plans_. And what these plans were, it was anybody's guess. Now, they were left with one prophecy to save the world. And by the looks of it, the Dreamers could not try to evade the problem this time, even if they had wanted to. Mana had to be stopped, but nobody had the powers or the ability to stop him. He had woven the most powerful and the most intelligent from his side around him closely like a safety net, using their unwavering loyalty. And so far, nobody had ever managed to break through it before. Therefore, when faced with so many odds, only the prophecy was left echoing persistently in the memories of those who remembered. [When the time comes, the Dreamers will return.] ----- Hyde closed his eyes against the blinding glare of the studio lights, wishing that everyone around him would just vanish. *Hold on to that thought. It might just come true.* He sighed, then opened his eyes again, glaring balefully at his band leader. The other gave him an apologetic smile, then rolled his eyes to indicate his own boredom. Tetsu simply _had to_ drag him here for this long and boring meeting with his producer, manager and all those other people who thought of themselves important and therefore should be present. This was just an obvious sign that misery loved company. And also, stupid idiots ought to be shot. "Haido-san?" Their manager frowned as he peered at the slight man, who was leaning back in his seat with his eyes closed. "Are you listening?" *I will put a silence spell on him if I care to, but that's too much effort. Maybe I'll torture him a bit in his dreams tonight.* Hyde was one of the most powerful White mages left in Japan now. Many feared him and his temper, and even more feared him for the simple fact that he used to be a Dark mage. He was a Level One mage of the Dream principle, and was known to be even more powerful than some of the older mages who had already passed on. But of course, the annoying human prattling on non-stop before him didn't know that. "Hai..." The petite man drawled out in his most annoyed voice, but the manager continued, ignoring him as if he was a little kid and not a man in his thirties. "Will you please pay attention when-" "Okay, okay. I'll pay attention. Happy?" Hyde cut in before the man could continue and drag the meeting far longer than it was supposed to. His manager muttered something under his breath, then sat back and let whoever who was talking before he interrupted continue with his speech. *Boring boring boring boooooooooooooring... When will all of them shut up and go away?* The vocalist tried to amuse himself by making the ants go round and round in circles on the tabletop. It took him a while to realise that the meeting was finally over. There was a sudden increase in the amount of noise in the room, caused by ten men simultaneously scrapping their chairs against the floor as they pushed it back. One would think that they had never attended lessons on basic courtesy and etiquette before. "Tetchan, why did you make me come here to listen to those old men talk?" For a man in his thirties, Hyde was damn good at acting a quarter of his age. "Because you are the vocalist and the spokesman for our band, Dohai-chan." Tetsu grinned as he patted the other on his head, and Hyde scowled. "_Don't_ call me that. And _don't_ do that. I never recalled being known as the spokesman for our band. If I am, then I'm being underpaid." "You are the 'Voice' of the band, Haido. Of course you are our spokesman." "Says who?" "Me. Leader-sama, okay?" "Humph." The two artists continued their way down the corridor, stopping by their studio to checked if the rest of the members of L'Arc~en~Ciel had already arrived. "Ken-chan, what-" Hyde paused and jerked to a stop at the studio door, causing Tetsu to crash into him. The bassist mumbled something that sounded like a curse, but Hyde didn't pay heed. "What the hell..." Tetsu peered over Hyde shoulder to see what the commotion was about, and his jaw dropped as he stared at the two occupants in the studio. "Ken..." "There's nothing going on!" Ken declared quickly as he got up from where he was crouching over Yukihiro. Hyde and Tetsu blinked. The expectant silence in the studio suddenly became too loud for the guitarist to bear, and he closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with a harassed look. "Uh-huh." The vocalist snorted, then continued walking into the studio, settling down on his favourite seat and turning to face Ken like he was interrogating him. "So, care to enlighten us on what happened, Ken-chan?" Yukihiro sat up from where he was lying on the ground, and replied before Ken could in a dead-pan voice. "I was changing the beads of my snare drums. Ken was trying to help. That's all." The drummer stared at Hyde steadily. Hyde grinned and gave both Yukihiro and Ken an innocent look. "Of course I know that! The both of you... Get your heads out of the gutter! What did you think I was asking about?" Tetsu started laughing then, but he quickly silenced his laughter when Ken glared at him as though he was about strangle him any moment. Yukihiro certainly didn't look too amused by what Hyde had suggested. There was a distinct look of disgust and resentment, as though Hyde had just suggested that he should go make a feast out of a wasp's nest or something equally disdainful. The drummer sighed, then spoke quietly. "I do believe I have better taste than that, Haido." "Hey! That's MY line!" Ken turned around to frown at Yukihiro, who dismissed him easily. The usually quiet man started picking up his drumsticks, which had been scattered across the floor of the studio in Ken's haste to get away from him. "Oh joy..." Hyde chuckled to himself as he watched his band mates. The vocalist voice suddenly turned serious, and light-hearted feeling in the studio vanished together with its arrival. "We have a meeting tonight. At Gakuto's house." The other three mages only nodded their heads, their faces suddenly taking on serious expressions. "Frankly speaking, I don't trust that man." Hyde confessed, and he watched the rest of L'Arc~en~Ciel carefully. "I know how you feel." Tetsu murmured softly from where he was standing to the right of the vocalist. The ranking of the mages in this band was as follow: Hyde- Level One Dream mage. Tetsu- Level Two Water mage. Ken- Level Two Dream mage and Yukihiro- Level Three Earth mage. Sakura had been a Level Two Air mage, but because he was such good friends with Mana, he didn't want to join the rest of L'Arc~en~Ciel back then in breaking away from the Dark faction. Hyde thought it was really stupid of Sakura to not follow them, but then again, it wasn't _that_ obvious back then that Mana apparently had such great plans for the world. Eventually, Sakura had joined the White faction anyway, with the help of another Tetsu, who was formerly the vocalist of Malice Mizer. "But don't forget this, Haido." Ken spoke up from where he was sitting on an amplifier. "We used to be Dark mages too." "No... there's something about him which is fundamentally dark. You can catch glimpses of it if you are careful. It's as if he's plotting something." "Now why are you paying so much attention on the Dark Prince, Dohai-chan? Is it because of his looks? Well, I never knew that you swing _that_ way..." Tetsu teased Hyde mercilessly, breaking up the heavy atmosphere. "Of course not. And it's _former_ Dark Prince, since he has already joined the White faction." Hyde replied, exasperated. Tetsu had an annoying habit of bringing in comic relief whenever he was trying to have some decent, serious conversation. Never mind the fact that he himself was guilty of acting like a kid most of the time too. "But the title fits him so well! He's so beautiful and elegant-" "Now who's the one who has an obsession with Gakuto?" Hyde gave Tetsu a challenging look. "I never said-" The bassist began in protest when someone else interrupted him. "I agree with Haido." Yukihiro spoke up suddenly from where he was sitting behind his drums. "We can't trust Gakuto. There's something about him which screams 'Traitor'!, but until we can prove it, we can't bring it up. We will only alert him of our suspicion." "Yukihiro, that's the most sensible thing I've heard from you all day!" Hyde declared it with flourish, indicating in his own manner that the discussion was over. "I'm glad to hear that from you, Haido..." With that, the members of L'Arc~en~Ciel went on with their daily tasks, knowing within their hearts that Gackt was one person they should watch out for, at all times. Their faction was small enough that one spy amongst them could cause tremendous amount of chaos. Meanwhile, they could only guard it with a feeling of unease, knowing that this was the calm before the storm. End: I Date completed: 291201 Last revised: 311201 to be continued back to MM fics page |