Title: The Bright End of Nowhere
Prompt: Ghost in the Machine
Parts: (Part One) (Part Two) (Part Three) (Part Four) (Part Five)



“We should be almost to the exit,” Fai said encouragingly as they picked their way through the tunnels. They had left the motorcycle behind and Kurogane carried their one remaining pack over his shoulder. The only light underground came from the map, which glowed green even in the darkness. They had been walking for what seemed to be ages, all but lost in the labyrinth network of tunnels. Twice they’d been forced to double back after running into a spot where their path was blocked by rubble due to the roof collapsing above.

“About damn time,” Kurogane grumbled from behind him. In the dim light all that Fai could see of the ninja was the bone-white mask. Kurogane had not put the mask back on without a fight, but in the end he had agreed only because Fai had refused to go any further unless the ninja covered his face.

Despite his fears, they had been safe the entire time they walked the tunnels. There had been so scuffling in the dark, no small voice whispering in the corners. Even so, Fai couldn’t help but feel nervous. It was as if he was standing on the edge of a thick black cloud, just waiting for the storm to break.

“Fai! Kurogane!” Mokona’s voice wafted back from where it had hopped ahead to scout. “Mokona found the exit!”

“Finally,” Kurogane muttered as he and Fai increased their pace. The tunnel began to slope gently upwards and at the top Fai could just see Mokona waiting for them in a square of light. As they got closer Fai could smell the acrid scent of smoke on the air.

They stepped out into an utter wasteland. The buildings in this area were not simply crumbling and old like in the rest of the city; they had all been completely flattened and ground into rubble. The ground was black with the remains of buildings, machinery and bones.

In the center of it all was a high black tower, surrounded by a deep wide pit.

Fai felt himself smile darkly and was glad that the mask kept Kurogane from seeing it. The tower itself was made of chunks of metal and wire of all different types, a mess of black and gray, as though it had been created by some giant insect gathering together every scrap it came upon and rolling it all up into a ball. Wide flat panes of glass dotted the sides of the tower like bits of a honeycomb and orange light glowed behind them. The tower itself was the single brightest spot in the entire city, the light spreading eerily over the wasteland that surrounded it. All over and around the tower there was constant movement as reapers of all shapes and sizes scuttled about, ranging from enormous ones similar to the one Fai and Kurogane had encountered at the building all the way down to small ones barely larger than Mokona. All of the reapers were wandering idly through the wasteland, picking up bits of debris and carrying them over to the tower and the pit.

Just beyond the tower the sky was a sickly orange red and smoke hung like a pall in the air. The electronic barrier that surrounded Eastpoint was barely visible, a small weak shimmer in the air, and Fai could almost make out the cracks in it where fire was beginning to seep through.

“We haven’t got much time,” Fai said. “That barrier’s not going to hold much longer. Once the fire reaches us even the tower won’t last long. We need to get inside and find the feather.”

“How the hell do you plan on doing that?” Kurogane asked darkly. “I can’t even see a damn bridge over that pit, much less a door.”

“There should be some way across,” Fai said, reaching out his good hand for Mokona to jump onto. The white creature was still holding onto the map. “The reapers are getting in somehow. They don’t all have wings, so there must be an easier way across. Mokona?”

“There’s something here on the map,” Mokona said. The map screen had changed to a full image of the tower in bright green lines, like an architect’s map. There was a small line leading from one side of the pit to the other on the eastern side of the tower.

“We need to get across this wasteland first,” Fai said. “This looks like one of your specialties, Kuro-rin. Lead the way with your ninja stealth!” He patted Kurogane on the back and the cold glare he received in return was visible even through the mask.

“If we could take off these stupid white masks it would be easier to blend in,” Kurogane noted. Fai just stared at him silently and Kurogane gave a heavy sigh. “Fine. Come on, and for once in your stupid idiot life, be quiet.”

Pulling the black cloak a little further over his head, Kurogane carefully began to lead the way down the hill towards the wasteland with Fai and Mokona close behind. As soon as he stepped out of the tunnel onto the ground Fai nearly lost his balance as his foot sunk into the mess of scrap and debris.

“It’s like walking in a damn junkyard,” Kurogane muttered, clearly having the same issue as Fai.

“It wouldn’t be so hard if someone hadn’t destroyed the bike,” Fai said innocently.

“I’m not the one who nearly ran us straight into a damned monster,” Kurogane snapped. “And it was your idea to go into that stupid building in the first place.”

“Kuro-sama’s just mad because I was a better driver. Right, Mokona?”

Mokona nodded sagely and Kurogane turned away from them, muttering irritably to himself. Fai extracted his foot and half-stumbled, half-skipped after him.

Crossing the wasteland was a slow and difficult affair. More than once they had to throw themselves down into the mess of junk to hide from the reapers stomping past or flying low overhead. Twice a beam of light like a searchlight was emitted from the tower and they barely managed to avoid it by hiding in the shadow of the nearest large reaper.

“Is it looking for us?” Mokona said quietly at one point as they were pressed close behind a circular hunk of metal, waiting for the search beam to pass.

“I don’t think so,” Fai said with false nonchalance, and he was glad that he couldn’t read Kurogane’s expression any more than the ninja could read his. “It should pass in a moment. Just stay close, Mokona.”

By the time they reached the spot marked on the map Fai’s legs felt like lead and he knew he was probably going to have bruises for weeks. Kurogane was trudging ahead of him with dogged persistence, but Fai suspected the ninja was feeling just as tired as he was. The smell of smoke was getting thicker in the air and his eyes were watering behind his mask. Mokona had already ducked inside his cloak, one ear pulled over its mouth.

“So where’s this bridge?” Kurogane asked.

“It should be close,” Fai replied, swallowing a cough. “Wait…there.”

A few feet away from them there was a thin pipe that stretched from one side of the pit to the other. A reaper was scrambling across it from beneath, its multiple legs moving along the pipe like an enormous spider clambering over a length of webbing.

“That’s how we’re getting across?” Kurogane eyed it distastefully. Fai shrugged.

“Unless you have a better plan, Kuro-rin?”

Kurogane gave a heavy sigh.

“This is such a pain.” He approached the end of the pipe, eying it clinically.

“Can we get across?” Mokona poked its head out from beneath Fai’s cloak.

“If we’re careful,” Fai said. “We haven’t got any rope, Kuro-tan. We’ll have to walk across on our own. Mokona, go first. Don’t let go of the map.”

“Mmm.” Mokona nodded and jumped nervously onto the ground. The pipe was wide enough that it was able to hop across with relative ease, settling itself nervously on the opposite side at the base of the tower.

“You next,” Kurogane said before Fai could even open his mouth.

“I thought I told Kuro-sama to lead the way,” Fai said innocently. Kurogane’s gaze didn’t waver.

“If you fall, you won’t be able to hold on well with that hand,” Kurogane said, crossing his arms.

“So if I fall, you’ll catch me, right?” Fai said with a wry smile. “How heroic, Kuro-sama!”

“Shut up,” Kurogane grumbled, and Fai liked to think he might be blushing behind the mask. “I just want to get out of here as soon as possible, that’s all.”

“You really shouldn’t be worrying about me so much, though,” Fai said quietly, looking away from him. “It doesn’t make things any easier, when you do that.”

Without bothering to wait for an answer, Fai took a step onto the pipe.

It was just wide enough for one person to walk on at a time, moving one foot in front of the other like a tightrope walker without a net. Fai held out his arms to steady himself and slowly began to make his way across. He was dimly aware of Kurogane following along behind him, moving even slower due to the way the pack around his shoulder was affecting his balance.

Step by step, Fai made his way cross the pipe. The pit yawned beneath him, a wide stretch of blackness, and the wind seemed to be blowing harder and colder the further Fai walked. He tried to keep his eyes trained on Mokona’s small white form on the opposite side but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the darkness beneath. He thought he could almost see figures below, splintered skeletons and bits of broken reapers lining the sides of the pit.

A place where bodies never rot, where sinners are punished for what they have brought upon themselves.

Fai felt himself wavering and took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He was too aware of Kurogane at his back, waiting for him as tried to force himself forward.

“Do you want to get out? Out of there?”

His arms itched beneath the bandages and Fai’s lungs felt clogged by smoke. Mokona was nothing more than a white smudge in the distance, and Fai could feel himself faltering.

Kurogane’s hand touched his shoulder. Solid, strong. Real. Fai breathed deep of his presence.

“I’m fine,” Fai said, though he hadn’t even the breath to force any semblance of cheer into the words.

“If you fall I will kill you, you idiot,” Kurogane said warningly, and that managed to make Fai smile.

“Then I’d better not fall, hmm?” Fai’s feet were working again and he took another careful step forward. Almost there. Almost there. He could feel Kurogane behind him, and the feeling seemed to clear all of the fuzziness from his head and the heaviness from his lungs. He didn’t even realize he had crossed onto the other side until Mokona jumped into his arms.

“It’s all right, we made it,” Fai said, breathing hard as he patted Mokona’s head. “That was fun, wasn’t it, Kuro-tan?”

“I don’t want to hear those kind of words from you,” Kurogane said, and for the first time Fai noticed how hard the ninja was breathing. “So? How do we get inside?”

“I don’t see a door,” Fai said, scanning the side of the tower and ignoring the small voice in the back of his head that whispered that of course there wasn’t a door, because there hadn’t been one then and this had, after all, been made for his benefit. Fai shook his head to clear the voice away and turned back to look at Kurogane. “We’ll just have to make one. Do we still have any explosives left?”

“One.” Kurogane dug into the pack and pulled out one small glass marble. It looked too small in the palm of his hand. Fai took it from him and held it up to one eye.

“It should be enough.” Fai walked over to inspect the side of the tower and Kurogane grabbed his wrist. Fai winced as the ninja’s hand wrapped around his injured hand.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Kurogane said. “If you cause an explosion we’ll definitely be noticed.”

“Then you should get your sword ready,” Fai said. “You’ve been waiting for something like that, right? And besides…” He turned back to the tower again. “We haven’t really got another choice, Kuro-tan.”

He placed the marble at the foot of the tower and took a step back as Kurogane sighed and pulled the light sword off his belt. He had already discarded the old sword back in the tunnels and the newer sword shone slightly brighter in the darkness of the tower.

“Stand back,” Fai ordered, backing up himself as he pulled out the gun with his good hand. It was harder to aim with one hand but not as difficult as he’d thought it might be. Once they were a safe enough distance away he took just a moment to be sure of the aim before firing straight at the small glass marble.

There was deafening boom as the shot hit and the marble exploded. Fai found himself thrown backwards, stopped only from going over the edge of the pit by Kurogane grabbing his wrist and wrenching him back, Mokona held tightly by the ears in the ninja’s other hand. Metal and debris rained down on them for a moment and there was a thick oil smell in the air. As the smoke cleared Fai could just make out a hole in the side of the tower.

“That was a damn stupid plan,” Kurogane stated and Fai shrugged.

“But it worked, didn’t it?”

“That doesn’t make it less stupid.”

They slowly approached the hole Fai had made. It was just large enough to be crawled through and peering inside all Fai could see was darkness.

“Mokona, you’d better go first to scout ahead,” Fai said. Mokona nodded and hopped through the hole. After a tense moment its voice floated back to them.

“Mokona doesn’t see any danger.”

“Then we’re coming through,” Fai called back. He stepped backwards and held out an arm. “You first, Kuro-rin. Better give me the pack this time, you’ll have a hard enough time without it. Kuro-sama should probably have tried to lose some weight before coming on this trip.”

Kurogane snorted and tossed the pack at Fai without another word. With a heavy sigh Kurogane began to ease himself through the hole. It was barely wide enough to accommodate his broad shoulders but after a moment of struggling he managed to slide through. Fai took one last, long look at the darkness of the pit and then followed.

As soon as he stepped foot inside the tower Fai felt a chill run down his spine. The inside of the tower was nothing but an enormous empty cylinder, all too-wide spaces and too-high walls. The floor beneath their feet was coal black and uneven, cut across in all places by bits of sheet metal and pieces of machinery sticking up at odd angles. The windows dotting the sides of the tower glowed even brighter from the inside and the glass was frosted and translucent, masking the darkness of the outside almost completely. Everywhere there was the echoed sound of movement, metal claws and wings and feet scrambling along the sides of the tower or along the mess of the floor.

“So now what?” Kurogane asked, staring upwards. Following his gaze all Fai could see was a network of pipes, cables and tubes that criss-crossed through the center of the tower like an enormous black web. He could almost make out a pulsing glow coming from somewhere high above, nearly unseen through the darkness.

“Mokona?” Fai glanced over at the white creature, who was also staring fixedly upward.

“Mokona can feel it,” Mokona answered quietly. “The feather is up there.”

“How the hell are we supposed to get up there?” Kurogane muttered.

“There must be a way up somehow,” Fai said, settling himself down onto a wide metal beam sticking out from one of the walls. Mokona hopped over beside him and held out the map. “Edras Agra should have put the most recent information he had on the tower in here….hopefully there will be some way up.”

“Quiet,” Kurogane said suddenly and Fai froze. Mixed among the general sounds of movement there was something larger and heavier, like the footsteps of an enormous beast. It was coming nearer.

“Can we hide?” Mokona asked softly, moving closer to Fai.

“Probably not.” Fai reached for his gun with his good hand. “Kuro-sama?”

Kurogane didn’t even reply, sword already in hand as he slowly stepped towards the sound.

Something black suddenly streaked through the air above them and Fai was knocked heavily back by the force of its approach as another bird-shaped reaper dropped down from above, aiming straight at Kurogane. The ninja was ready for it, sword flashing out just in time to cut through one of its sharp metal wings. The creature stumbled and fell back against a wall, single wing flapping madly as its jaws tried desperately to clamp onto something. Kurogane jumped back out of its range and then had to dive to the side as another reaper emerged from the darkness behind him, this one larger and heavier than the bird, shaped vaguely like some kind of enormous ox.

“Kuro-rin!” Fai pulled himself up with a wince of pain. Both his gun and the pack had been knocked from his grip and he looked around wildly for them both.

Kurogane didn’t even seem to hear him, too busy trying to hold off both reapers at once. He sliced through one of the bull reaper’s horns with his sword as the bird jumped for him again, its single razor-sharp wing just barely missing his face. As the ninja backed up again, trying to find a steady patch of ground, Fai could see that a thin hairline fracture had appeared through the center of Kurogane’s mask.

Fai scrambled for his gun, wincing as he thoughtlessly grabbed at it with his injured hand. Taking a moment to steady himself, he aimed for the still-thrashing bird reaper and shot.

Nothing happened.

“Mokona, where’s the other battery pack?” Fai turned towards where Mokona had dragged the pack out from underneath a small mess of debris. Immediately Mokona dived into the pack, pulling out the remaining battery pack. Fai pressed a button on the side of the gun and the old pack fell away. He reached for the new battery with his injured hand and pulled it back with a hiss of pain.

“Fai!” Mokona started to move towards him and Fai gestured for it to stay put.

“Stay hidden over there,” Fai said sharply, forcing himself to grab onto the battery pack again. “I can do this.”

His hand was trembling badly as he tried to fit the pack into the gun, and he couldn’t stop himself from cursing quietly as he lost his grip and the pack slipped from his fingers. He glanced back towards where Kurogane was still fighting. The ninja’s hood had been blown back by the bird reaper’s desperate flapping and the cut in the mask was growing wider.

“Kuro-rin, get out of there!” Fai called desperately, even though he knew it was pointless.

“How the hell do you expect me to do that?” Kurogane shot back, the blade of the sword nothing more than a flashing blur of light as he held off both monsters. Fai dropped the useless gun into his lap and grabbed at the battery pack with his good hand, trying his best to fit the pack into the gun with only one hand.

There was the sound of something heavy hitting the wall and Fai turned again just in time to see Kurogane get pushed back against the walls of the tower, head slamming back hard against the cold metal. Kurogane stumbled momentarily before recovering just in time to raise his sword and slice straight through the bird reaper’s one good wing. The bird fell backwards against the bull reaper and Kurogane’s sword cut through both their necks in one stroke.

Fai dropped the battery pack with a relieved sigh as Kurogane turned towards where he and Mokona were waiting, looking only slightly unsteady on his feet.

One of the bird reaper’s clawed feet jerked as he went by and Kurogane moved sharply to the side to avoid it. As he moved, the mask on his face finally cracked in two and fell at his feet, revealing his face.

The tower shuddered, and everywhere along the walls eyes opened.

Fai found himself unable to move for a moment, staring dizzily upwards as eye after eye broke through the walls of the tower. They were the exact same as the eye he and Kurogane had encountered in the building, enormous and artificial, made all of rusting sheet metal, blinking eerily out at them as if the tower itself was staring down at them.

Something high above screamed and then there came a deafening echo of sound as things began to move in the shadows. Dark shapes were falling from the sky and the ground was trembling with the stamping of hundreds of feet.

Every reaper in the tower was seemingly awake and heading straight towards them.

In moments the spot where Kurogane stood was surrounded, reapers emerging from the darkness in front of him and behind, bird creatures dropping from the sky and others like the digger they had fought before bursting from the ground, bull-creatures charging out the darkness and even something long and thin like a snake oozing through the hole they’d made in the wall. They all swept straight past where Fai and Mokona sat without even pausing, all headed straight for Kurogane.

“Kuro-sama!” Fai yelled for him but heard no reply. He could just make out the swirling light of Kurogane’s sword emitting from within the press of monsters but Kurogane’s form itself was completely obscured. Fai scrambled to his feet, hand clasped on his useless gun. He reached for the battery pack with a trembling hand, forcing his fingers to clasp it as tightly as he could manage even as pain shot through him with every movement. He pushed the battery pack into place, hoping he’d managed to place it tightly enough even with no strength in his hand, and he fired into the press of creatures.

One reaper fell, laser blast slicing through its eyes, and another took its place almost immediately. Something small ran past Fai’s feet and he looked down to see dozens of small black mechanical rats running past to join the other reapers that surrounded Kurogane.

“Stop it…” Fai breathed, panic rising in his throat and choking him.

“Bring him here, and I’ll kill him for you. Then our wish will be granted, right?”

Fai took a shaky step back and felt smooth glass behind him. He was pressed up against one of the orange windows and it felt hot against his back. Fai stared down at the press of reapers in front of him. The gun fell from his hands and he reached for his mask.

“I said, stop it!” The command tore itself from his throat as he ripped the mask off, pulling down his hood to reveal his face.

Everything froze, and all the eyes in the tower turned to look towards him. Slowly the reapers began to back away into the shadows and Fai could just make out the dark form of Kurogane, half crouched and bloodstained but still alive.

Something exploded behind him and Fai didn’t even have a moment to turn and look as the window at his back burst into pieces. Something wrapped itself around his arms and torso and he felt himself pulled backwards out the window towards the dark abyss of the pit.

As he fell back into darkness, Fai couldn’t stop the bitter smile that crossed his face.

--

Sakura turned another corner, following close after the mechanical bird. She had long ago lost track of where she was going. The bird had led her through a dark tunnel of cables that sloped slowly downward until she had reached a small elevator that had taken her down even further towards the heart of the tower. She had been dropped off in the center of what she could only think of as a maze. It was made completely of black wires and bright orange glass windows that lined the walls, the ceiling and even the floor. Everywhere there were twists and turns, half-made walls and sudden stops and so many doorways that she was certain she would have been hopelessly lost long ago if not for the bird leading her on. It seemed to know exactly where it was going, leading her unerringly past dead-end corridors and through hidden doorways towards some unknown place.

The tower suddenly seemed to shudder and Sakura stumbled backwards. The floor was trembling beneath her feet.

“What’s going on?” Sakura turned to look at the bird that was hovering awkwardly in the air before her, its head cocked slightly to one side and its single eye glowing bright.

“He’s here,” the bird said. “He’s here to grant my wish.”

All of a sudden the bird wheeled about, flashing past her head and back into the tunnels they had just passed through.

“Wait!” Sakura took a moment to regain her balance and then hurried doggedly after it. If she lost the bird now, she knew she might never be able to find her way out. It was moving faster than she would have expected and Sakura found herself quickly being left behind.

The bird flashed around a corner, out of sight, and Sakura lowered her head, putting on a burst of speed. She dashed around the corner and rammed straight into something, falling to the ground with a squeak of surprise.

“What…?” Sakura sat up dizzily, rubbing her head as she looked up to see what she had hit. In front of her, a familiar silhouette was lying flat on the ground. “Syaoran-kun!”

“Princess….?” Syaoran sat up groggily and Sakura noted the dark bruise on his forehead. She leaned forward to touch the wound gingerly.

“You’re hurt.” Sakura’s worried eyes met his. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Syaoran assured her, relief clear in his voice. “I’m just glad I was able to find you. This part of the tower is like a maze.” He placed one hand against the wall and stared around at the area surrounding them. “I’ve been trying my best to map it out, but there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to how it’s laid out. This is the only part of the tower that seems to actually have anything in it. The rest of the tower from what I could see seems to be completely empty and hollow. It’s almost as if this part of the tower was made to protect something.”

“I was imprisoned at the top of the tower,” Sakura told him. “A bird led me down here.”

“A bird?” Syaoran repeated, surprised.

“A metal one,” Sakura said. “It was strange….it spoke to me, and it’s voice sounded almost like a child’s. It kept talking about being all alone and having a wish, and needing to get me somewhere safe. It told me you were down here, too. But it flew off all of a sudden…”

“There’s something strange about all of this,” Syaoran said thoughtfully. “We should see if we can find our way to the center of this place. If it’s protecting something, that’s where we’ll find it.”

—

“Kurogane!” Mokona’s frantic voice was the first thing Kurogane heard as he forced himself dizzily to his feet. He was bleeding in half a dozen places and the sword in his hand was blinking in and out of existence again, the power nearly drained. He was surrounded by twisted and charred bits of metal, remains of the reapers he’d managed to take down before being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

“What the hell…?” Kurogane swayed slightly as he stumbled forward and looked around. He was still in the tower, but the eyes that had dotted the walls had disappeared without a trace. All of the reapers that had been attacking him seemed to have wandered away and the only other creature nearby was Mokona, hopping frantically up and down near a broken window.

Kurogane’s eyes landed on Fai’s abandoned mask and gun lying on the floor and memory returned abruptly.

“Damn it!” He ran to the window, leaning out into the air as he stared down into the deep black pit. He couldn’t see anything down below except darkness. He glanced over at Mokona. “Did you see him fall?”

“Something grabbed Fai,” Mokona said. “Mokona saw it pull him out the window.”

“Then he’s still alive,” Kurogane said. He moved away from the window to dig into the abandoned pack, tossing aside his dying light sword and pulling out the last remaining spare. After a moment’s thought he reached over and took Fai’s gun as well, tucking it into his belt. “Good. I’m going after him.”

“But how will Kurogane get down?” Mokona asked curiously. “There’s no rope.”

Kurogane cast his gaze around the wide room. His eyes fell on one of the downed reapers. The hatch in its chest cavity had fallen open and a tangle of long cables were spilled out in a pile on the floor. Kurogane made his way over to it and pulled one of the cables out as far as it would stretch, using his sword to detach it from the reaper’s stomach. He held it tightly in his hand, considering. It wasn’t quite as good as a rope, but it would have to do. Kurogane set to work detaching the rest of the cables, tying them together end to end.

“White thing,” Kurogane said as he began to tie one end of the makeshift rope to a pipe near the window. “Do you still have that map?”

“Yes.” Mokona held it out for Kurogane to see.

“Can you tell where the feather is?” Kurogane pulled on the cable to check the strength of the knot as Mokona inclined its head in a nod. “Good. Go find it.”

“But--” Mokona started to object and then stopped upon seeing Kurogane’s expression.

“That feather’s supposed to be the only thing keeping the damn power on in this place, right? If you remove it, it should stop all those monsters from attacking. I’ll take care of the idiot, so you find the feather and the kids.”

“Right.” Mokona nodded as Kurogane swung the cable out of the window. The far end fell down into the blackness of the pit and disappeared from view. “Will Kurogane be all right alone?”

“I’ll be fine,” Kurogane said, preparing to climb. “Just find the feather so we can get the hell out of here.”

Without waiting for a reply, Kurogane slowly eased himself out of the window and carefully began his slow descent into the dark.


--Part Five--