The Artist's Touch [Jericho]

[Aerith]

This place is nice.
--------

Another place revisited, another memory of the path taken to this point.

Nadia stood with Jericho on top of the cathedral here--the Notre Dame, she had learned it was called. That's what the people in the streets called it, anyway. Aerith had been temporarily dropped off somewhere below, left to her own devices, whatever those might be. Knowing her, she had probably taken to healing every sick or injured person she found. If she got into any trouble, they would know where she was, thanks to that alarm.

The one thing different about this time here was that there were no girls trying to kill themselves. Everything else was the same.

Mostly everything else. There was some greater expectation in the air. Jericho had brought her here for a reason. Ethan was nowhere to be found, so it must be something else.

"It seems so long ago since we we talked here. Why have we come back?"

[Slash]

Potential.

[/center]

Jericho had come here for a very specific reason. Nadia's training had gone well, strangely so.

There was something there. Some spark of promise, something different than the power he possessed. Whatever it was, he had to help her access it.

"Nadia...it's about your training. You've done very well, but there's something else, something you must reach. We're here so you can learn how to do so."

[Aerith]

There's more?
--------

Nadia tilted her head slightly. "Something else?"

For a moment, she retreated within herself, searching for something. Though, not knowing what she was looking for made it harder to find.

"What do you mean?"

[Slash]

Indeed there is.

[/center]

Jericho nodded. "You have an ability. Some ability unique to you, but right now it's dormant. I will do what I can to help you unlock it, but it will mostly be up to you."

How would he help her? The buildup of darkness would be necessary. He began that, calling to the darkness around the world and gathering it around himself.

"Your chimaera can help you." Jericho had seen its presence in her heart- no matter how close he was to her, it would be closest.

"You will have to look within yourself- rip through your own psyche to find it. It will hurt, but should it become too painful I will stop it."

He had found his gift by tearing through himself- what she had was not so significant, but still very important.

[Aerith]

Again?
--------

The idea of ripping through herself created apprehension inside her. She had already been nearly torn to pieces several times, in the physical sense and the emotional sense. Was this going to become normal? When could she stop being broken or nearly so?

This time, she would have to do it to herself.

"...All right." This had better be worth it.

Nadia took a deep breath and dove into herself. Azrael roused and rose to meet her inside her head.

Nadia. What he says is true. There is a power within you that is not connected to me. It is yours alone.

What is it?

I cannot say. It resides on a level of your mind that I do not touch. I can take you as far as I can. But then you must complete the journey on your own.

She suddenly felt herself mentally pulled through layers upon layers of mental barriers. Though, since Azrael was with her, they dissolved with relative ease. It wasn't until the movement stopped that she grew worried.

This is as far as I can go, Nadia. The rest is up to you.

Suddenly, she was alone inside her head. Nothing but darkness. Wait.

The darkness inside her heart stirred with little coaxing from Nadia. Perhaps because of all the darkness already present outside herself.

Will you help me?

There was a wordless sense of affirmation. Pain tore through her mind. She plunged far deeper into her psyche than she ever had. If Azrael had been a gentle guide, the darkness was the exact opposite, hungrily seeking power for power's sake, not caring what might happen to the vessel that contained that power.

Ripping, tearing, searing investigation. When would it stop? Maybe there really wasn't anything more inside her. But trying to reason with the force that now had her in its grasp would be pointless.

There. Something undiscovered. She reached for it and understood.

The darkness released its vice-like grip and pushed her back to the surface of her mind. Instinctively, she gasped for air and opened her eyes.

[Slash]

What do you have?

[/center]

It begun quickly, and ended after a few seconds. Her pain was strong, but not unbearable, and after just a bit she gasped for breath, back in control.

Jericho looked worriedly at her. What had she found? He had sensed a shift- certainly not as dramatic of a shift as his, but large in its own way.

"Nadia? What have you learned? Show me."

If it was mental, which he suspected that it was, he would be her test subject. It was near impossible that her fledgling power would be enough to break him.

[Aerith]

Forgive my fumbling around.
--------

Nadia focused on Jericho, and her eyes widened. She suddenly knew what it felt like to be able to see after being blind. It was difficult to describe, except maybe in terms of seeing in three dimensions her whole life and now seeing a fourth.

She wasn't sure, but it felt like she was inside Jericho's head. Though, she could only see one particular facet. Chain-like connections wound throughout, individual memories that made up his past up to the second right before this moment. She could see it all.

Perhaps she should explain everything so far. "I see your memories. All of them."

An image of his family made her pause. Echoes of happiness were attached to it, but there was something strange. It felt incredibly distant, even for a memory, almost like it was someone else's.

She had no time to ponder on it before that image shifted to the stormy night when they were murdered. She pushed away from that quickly, not wanting to be so intrusive. He had told her about it, and that was enough.

But then she came to a break in the connections. An odd section of the chain was broken. Curious, though not really knowing what she was doing, Nadia took both ends of the chain and put them back together.

[Slash]

So this is what you can do.

[/center]

She could see his memories? He froze. That was far more powerful than he had expected.

He could only reflect on that for a moment, though, before his mind was assaulted by memories from a very long time ago.

________________

It was so cold outside, and he was starving. When was the last time he'd eaten? He couldn't remember. The food tasted like blood.

He was afraid of sleeping. If he slept, he might never wake up.

________________

"Stop. Stop, stop, please stop."

Daniel cocked his head slightly, confused. "Huh? What is it?"

"Stop looking at me like that!"

"Like what? What are you talking about?" he asked, looking more and more worried by the second.

"The way you're looking at me! Stop it! Stop!" He was yelling now. He couldn't help it. "Everyone looks at me like that! You think I did it! You do! Everyone does! I see it! They looked at me like that, too. All of them. Their faces...or what was left of them...ha!"

Vincent fell into a bout of hysterical laughter, which sounded closer to screaming despair than any sort of mirth.

_________________

It was cold here. Everywhere was cold. He was homeless again. But now he had company.

Vincent- or, whatever nameless man had taken his place- played calmly with a knife in his hands.

The man was pleading for his life.

"Why would I listen?" the nameless man that had Vincent's face asked callously. "Did my wife beg you to spare her? Did my son? My daughter? I'll let you go. Just give them back."

He kept begging and crying and screaming. How pathetic. He only had to do one simple thing.

"Give them back, I said."

Still nothing. Obviously he was keeping them out of spite. He had taken them away from Vincent, and now he was going to keep them. But he could be punished for that.

The knife moved up and down in a rhythmic motion. His movements were horrible in their easy, indifferent brutality.

_______________

Jericho came back to the present suddenly, and reflected on what he had just remembered. Strange. He could now recall the details of Vincent's metamorphosis into him, memories which he would rather not dwell on for too long.

So that is why you betrayed me, Daniel.[/color]

He looked at Nadia, somewhat shaken. Behind the shock and revulsion those memories brought, though, there was something else. Something like pride mixed with amazement.

"That is a very powerful ability you have there, Nadia. If you can bring back lost memories, as well as search through other ones, and this all from a new power...If you build this power, you will be strong in a way I can not be. That power...its potential is more vast than I can imagine."

[Aerith]

Something you can't do? At last.
--------

Nadia could tell something was off about Jericho now, which set her worrying. "Did I... do something wrong? I didn't know what I was doing, so I might have done something I shouldn't have. It's just... some of your memories were broken, and I put them back together. I'm still not sure how I did it."

She looked out at the city, letting the slight breeze that brushed by relax her. If she had damaged Jericho somehow, he would have made it more obvious to her. Had her guinea pig been anyone else, she would not have cared at all what she might have done to them.

Something else rose within her. Prideful satisfaction. She could do something that Jericho could not. Finally. She stood a little straighter, lifted her chin a little higher.

"You think so?" She turned to him, a joyful glint in her eyes.

[Slash]

Still recovering.

[/center]

"Remembering that much at once is a great shock. If you did that to a weak person, or someone who had many more broken memories..."

For a second or two, Jericho felt very nervous. This was a power unlike any he had seen, one that he had no idea how to use or even to understand.

But all was well. He had his domain and she had hers. Besides, this would be immensely more useful in the long run.

I control emotion, and she controls memory...I could almost fear what she will become.[/color]

She would not harm him, even if they did become evenly matched. He smiled.

"Yes. This power is yours, and it is alien to me. You now have something which only you are master of. Let the seed of your ability grow in the darkness that surrounds your heart, and you will become as strong as I am, but in a completely different way."

[Aerith]

I am unabashedly delighted.
--------

Nadia practically beamed back. And yet, beneath all that happiness was a dark desire to try out this new power on someone else. Someone far more fragile and far less important to her than Jericho. After all, she needed the practice to fully understand what she could and could not do to a person's memories.

Certainly, this would bolster the joy she experienced from simple killing. Being able to manipulate memories, albeit in limited ways for now, would enable her to perhaps use people herself. And the more powerful she became, the more like clay they would be in her hands.

The thought made her laugh. So many ideas. I want to try them all. I think some of them might even break people. Turn them into sniveling, cracked little shells. And just after they lose all will to live, that's when I'll kill them. Yes.

She didn't realize she had voiced her thoughts aloud until silence had hung in the air for a few moments.

[Slash]

Yes. You understand.

[/center]

Her words delighted him. How wonderful. She would master her power at the expense of so many, and enjoy doing it too. And since it was new to her, she would kill so many so fast, her enthusiasm boundless.

He wanted to be there as she killed. As she broke those around her with the darkest ecstasy.

Jericho moved next to her and embraced her, smiling.

"Yes. Kill them, corrupt them, let their despair and fear feed your darkness. They are nothing. Play with them and break them when they have outlived their usefulness. Hurt them, Nadia."

[Aerith]

So many things I want to do.
--------

Nadia's excitement intensified with every word he said. He was close now and so warm, and she suddenly had conflicting desires. Descending to the masses below and ripping them apart, starting with their minds, was a strong urge within her. But she also wanted to stay here. With him.

"And you..." She leaned closer to him and put her hand against his cheek, thumbing it. "You'll be there with me. You'll kill them, too. And hurt them and break them and destroy them."

She smiled back. "Can anything stop us?"

[Slash]

No.

[/center]

He shook his head. "No, nothing. Not if we don't let it. They'll get stronger, but so will we. Nothing can stop us. Nothing."

Jericho laughed slightly, holding her close. "Think of it, Nadia. You have memory, I have emotion. Anyone could fall. Even the strongest mind is ours to command. Even the strongest heart will be nothing to us. Slaves, killers, shells, Heartless...we can make anything outof anyone we want to."

[Aerith]

I couldn't agree more.
--------

She had known nothing could stop them, but hearing him confirm it was so much better.

"Yes. The universe is our playground to do with as we please. And the humans are nothing but playthings that exist for our amusement. So many of them. We'll never get bored."

Smiling, she ran her fingers through his hair and brushed her lips against his cheek. The two desires were beginning to blend together into some indistinguishable blur that either course of action would satisfy.