Danger Zone [Daniel]

[Aerith]

I guess I should tell you.
--------

Nadia sat down next to Jericho, keeping an ever-watchful eye on him. If he showed even a hint of discomfort, she was prepared to beg Aerith to help him. That was all she would be able to do, anyway. Azrael knew no healing abilities.

"He was looking for you. He asked me where you were and said that he needed to find you to ask you something. But then, he took it farther and said he needed to stop you. I didn't know where you were, so I only told him the truth."

She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on top of them. "You never told me you have a brother."

[Slash]

Would you call him a brother?

[/center]

Daniel wanted to stop him. That figured, although Jericho hadn't expected him to do anything. Once again, the idea of how much Daniel must have changed was a bit shocking...then again, 14 years was a very long time. And that winged thing- well, Daniel was a scientist, and if his desire to kill Jericho was strong enough he could have turned to making weapons. It was likely that the creature had been created by him.

"Figures. He will certainly start training after this."

Oh, he had never told Nadia about his brother. In fact, he'd never told anyone.

"Well, there isn't much to say. Back when my family died, I needed shelter. So I went to him. After three days, he betrayed me and I had to run. I don't remember much else. He was a scientist, and it seems he's been experimenting in creating weapons."

[Aerith]

Depends on what he did exactly.
--------

"I see."

That certainly added a new dimension to the story. Nadia had had many siblings and cousins. Far too many to keep names straight with faces, usually. She had never been betrayed by them. Getting exiled and subsequently almost stoned to death was more of a general betrayal. This sounded more personal, when there were only two people involved.

"Why did he betray you? He actually thought you killed them?"

Betrayal was too vague a term sometimes.

[Slash]

I don't remember much.

[/center]

"If he didn't at first, he did later. He told me I should turn myself in, then turned me in himself. Or tried to. I ran, and spent another day or so homeless in the dead of winter- so I had to escape the world. I spent a couple months drifting, paying off the people who had gotten me out. And the rest...doesn't really matter."

He shrugged. That whole time was so blurry it didn't create much of an emotion in him. Daniel was still an object of extreme hatred, though, said hatred being made fresh by his effect on Nadia.

[Aerith]

I'm sorry.
--------

Nadia understood a little better now. Daniel's original motivation to stop Jericho was that he believed Jericho had murdered his own family. Even if it wasn't true, Jericho had done plenty of other things that someone like Daniel would find reprehensible.

She briefly wondered if he would still be the way he was if Daniel hadn't kicked him out.

Turning her head away from him, she tucked her cheek against her knees. "I don't know why I thought he would know the truth about you. It's just... some of the things he said made a lot of sense."

[Slash]

Did he?

[/center]

Jericho looked at her as she turned away, his gaze abnormally piercing. She was so unstable. So afraid of abandonment. And if Daniel could seize on that the way Jericho had...

He forced his look to soften before she turned back.

"Really? Like what?

[Aerith]

I don't want to be right, and yet, I think I might be...
--------

At first, she wasn't sure if she should explain. Part of her was afraid of saying the wrong thing.

"He--and that guy who was with him--said that you had probably orchestrated events since the first time we met. He said that you're a manipulator. I know that. It just never occurred to me that you would do something like that to... to me."

If he really had just been playing her all along, was he still doing it now? She turned her head to look at him, scrutinizing his face worriedly.

"But... I don't think you could have had a hand in what happened in Agrabah." If he had... The thought made her sick.

She hesitated for a long time, unsure whether or not to say what she did next. "He also said that you would have fixated on me because I was abandoned. Because that would mean I was more easily controlled."

[Slash]

He's only partially correct...Well, mostly.

[/center]

Jericho turned cold inside. Not a cold born of fear, no. If he needed to he could manipulate and exploit Nadia to do anything he needed her to do- the only reason he didn't immediately do so was out of respect. No, this was a sort of emotional coldness towards Daniel, and also partially towards Nadia.

What does it matter what you know? If Daniel didn't break you from me nothing will, no matter what you want or believe.[/color]

He recoiled from that thought. If he started thinking like that...

"I didn't have a hand in Agrabah. That was completely your family."

He paused for a long while after that.

"It wasn't about controlling you. If I'd wanted to completely control someone, absolutely anyone would do. I wanted to...teach someone, I suppose. In the beginning, I did position you in such a way that ensured that you would not abandon me, or attempt to kill me...which it seems I partially failed at."

Jericho sighed. Well, there it was. Maybe she would attempt to stab him again. "He was correct about me being a manipulator. It is how I've survived. But in the end, everything was your decision. It was you who decided to stay with me. I did not expoit you, but rather the circumstances."

[Aerith]

Answer me this. Please.
--------

Nadia lost her worried expression, replacing it with one of simple introspection. Out of everything he had done, at least he had not manipulated her family into almost killing her. That would have been unforgivable.

Did manipulating the circumstances around her equal manipulating her, though? Perhaps not. Those had apparently been teaching moments. Had she not already known most of what he had taught her? Deep down, she knew she had. It would have been only a matter of time before she had come to the same conclusions about humanity on her own, especially if she had continued being skirted around by the people of Twilight Town.

And if she really thought about it, she had been more alive during her time spent with Jericho than any other point in her life.

Such a stupid thing to worry about. He could have killed her several times over by now or left her for dead. If he hadn't, then she must be worth something to him.

"You were worried that I would abandon you?" She looked away and chuckled a little. "What a strange thought. I'm always afraid you'll abandon me."

She felt so torn right now. There was a small part of her that wanted to hate him, wanted so badly to hate him. But most of her did not care, oddly enough.

"Whatever you may or may not have done, I really don't care. Except for one thing."

Looking at him unwaveringly, she took a deep breath. "When you say things to me about how much you care about me and how you love me, do you really mean it, or is all of that a ruse to get to me stay? You can lie to me about everything else, but not this one thing."

Messing with her mind was one thing. Messing with her heart was something different entirely.

[Slash]

I will answer as best as I can.

[/center]

Normally, he would have answered without a second thought, sure in his answer. As he was now, though, it was...more complicated. He felt strange, and didn't really know what he though of Nadia.

Organizing his thoughts to the best of his ability, he looked at her and said, "I do love you. But I'm only part of a whole. It's important that you know that. Someday I might be...something different. But I think I will love you even then."

[Aerith]

Let's just forget.
--------

She nodded. "Then that's all I need to know."

After looking at him silently for a moment more, Nadia stood up. She almost jumped at the sight of Aerith nearby, having forgotten the woman was here, too.

The past several hours had been one huge emotional roller coaster that had just come back full-circle. It would be nice if she didn't have to constantly be on such a ride, but she doubted that would ever be possible as long as she was with Jericho. Being with him was like playing with fire. Sometimes, you were warm and comfortable, and sometimes, you were in agony.

She would most likely not find herself on the agony side so much, if what he said was true--and she thought it was--but there was always that chance

"If that ever changes, I won't blame you."

Turning to him with a smile, she said, "It feels weird being the one to say this, but I won't leave you. And I promise not to try killing you again, as pathetic an attempt as that was. I should probably stick to killing humans."

She laughed, the first real laugh she had had in a while.

[Slash]

All right.

[/center]

Jericho was beginning to relax. Everything was going to be okay, at least as okay as it was going to get.

He smiled back at her and stood up. She was right- he wasn't human. Neither was she. And he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

It didn't matter. She was once again with him, and Daniel, try has he might, could not seperate them. He could only fracture them at best.

"We should go."

[Aerith]

One more question. Don't worry, it's not anything loaded.
--------

With a nod at Jericho, Nadia glanced at Aerith and gave her a slightly apologetic look. "You've been so quiet over there."

Aerith shook her head. "I didn't think I needed to say anything."

Always a mystery, Aerith was. Nadia found her to be about as inhuman as she and Jericho were but on the far opposite end of the scale. Strange.

Jericho had mentioned they should leave. Ethan was absent, after all. They would need to go get him. Suddenly, she thought of something else she wanted to ask.

"Jericho, do you think I could learn how to use the Corridors myself? The only reason I ran into Daniel here was because I was stuck waiting for you."

[Slash]

Nothing to it.

[/center]

So she wanted to learn how to make Corridors. Jericho was at a loss to explain it for a few minutes- they came as easy as breathing to him, making the specifics of the procedure hard to pinpoint. However, since she was tied to the darkness it would not be too hard for her.

"Concentrate. Picture a doorway, leading to the place you wish to go. Then picture darkness rising up from the ground and coating that doorway." That was all he did, anyway. The was a good chance that she would only have to do that much as well.

[Aerith]

First try.
--------

Nadia was about to concentrate on a place, but then she realized that she had no idea where they needed to go. For now, she decided to simply picture a different part of the caverns.

The portal blossomed right in front of her, and she went through it without hesitation. Another Corridor opened several yards away, and she stepped out of if, happiness rising in her chest. Sure, it wasn't all that impressive simply moving across the same area, but it was something.

"It's a start." She smiled. "I'll keep practicing."