Fan Fiction ❯ the Comics: Book Two ❯ Chapter One (Conan) ( Chapter 1 )

As told by Conan:

They say the best stories are those which have yet to be told; stories that cannot be brought into the open. For fear of rejection. For fear of dismissal. For fear of the tale reaching the wrong ears. Ours is a story as yet untold, known only to those who lived it. As they yet expect your disbelief, it is little wonder it has taken thus long to scribe their misadventures. That is where I am capable of helping. I, a creature hewn of shadow and whispers, of fear and imagination. A truth accepted by few yet dreamt into existence by all. I am a vampire.

Where to begin? Would you hear of my dark birth in the country they now call Great Britain? Or perhaps my travels? For the length of time I have walked the earth, I have very few stories which could possibly interest you. And so, I will help my friends tell a section of our story. One which begins and, yes, ends with a departure and-I am told-confused sorrow. I, myself, would rather not bare this. Yet I cannot help but smile at the redundancy that is my life. A life, not a life. Wracked by pain, sorrow, loss.

I digress.

Would that I could bring you to the warehouse lot that autumn eve. The view…was to die for. There she stood, bathed in a pulsing amber light, unconscious of her own innocent awe. The restless early autumn breeze caught long brown hair from its ponytail and joyfully tossed it about her still face, slim shoulders. She stood facing away from me, unaware of my presence. Her stance belied both wariness and indecision. I stood aback for a moment, caught up in the sight, letting two very different emotions numb my limbs. She was here. But-I somehow knew-not for long.

To one side stood Cosmo, the outsider whom my group had welcomed with open arms. To the other stood a stooped Chinese man whose salt-and-pepper beard hung to his waist; a seemingly ancient man, whose aura seemed much older than that of any human. And, strangely, I felt a form of affinity with him, perhaps for this reason. I didn't know this second man. However, Cosmo's presence was enough to unsettle me.

Cosmo was speaking. Unsurprisingly, his voice retained the same know-it-all tone that it had since the day we met. I clenched my teeth in anger, felt a fang glance my lower lip. That bastard was a fairly recent development-one I was in no way comfortable with. For some reason, he had zeroed in on Amy. She wasn't as interested as he might have hoped, but her curiosity was piqued, and I could feel her slipping away ever so slightly. Nothing that should worry me. I trusted her completely. It was him I needed to watch.

"If you accept the mission, reach out and take the stone." Cosmo gestured to the source of the amber glow, which was about the size of my fist. Hard grey eyes looked past it to catch Amy's. "Remember, the universe is in danger."

Of all the cheesy…! But she stretched forth a hand, reaching toward the source. Panic seized me. I did not know why.

"Amy! Don't!" I broke into a sprint that quickly ate up the ground between us. I didn't know what I'd do when I reached her. Maybe strike the stone. But I couldn't let her touch it. "Don't touch that stone!"

Cosmo reeled on me with a snarl, his eyes hard and small. I could sense a quickening in his pulse even at this distance-a good ten feet. "Stay away! She must make this choice for herself!" He gestured toward me, an angry jab. My heels, my instep, my toes left the ground behind at his motion. I fought madly for a moment, cursing his telekinesis, beating at the empty air which seemed to have caught me up in an intangible grasp. This caused him a private pleasure. He smirked at me behind her back, raised me higher still. "You couldn't possibly understand. The universe is counting on her."

Amy turned, a soft glint of amber in the whites of her eyes. Liquid brown eyes caught my own and her lips parted gently. They tugged at something deep in my chest. I heard myself whisper to her, and yet I cannot recall the words. But I will not forget her response, or the diamond tear which escaped her eye that night. No, I will not repeat them. They remain for my ears alone. I have not heard them since, and would not ask her to speak them again, though I know she would repeat them for me.

Her eyes turned to Cosmo and hardened slightly. "Let him down, Cosmo." I was pleased to hear her tone match her eyes.

As soon as my feet brushed the gravel once more, I caught her hands in mine. "Don't leave, Amy."

She squeezed my hands and there was a tender smile on her lips. "I wish I didn't have to, Conan, really I do! But Cosmo says-"

"'Cosmo says-` Ha! Cosmo just wants you to go with him. He's lying."

Before she could respond, I sensed a presence at my shoulder. I had never before felt the like. Turning slightly, I saw the old man regarding me beneath wrinkled eyelids, his dark, liquid eyes full of a weighted sorrow. "Well, Conan, he might. However, I do not lie when I tell you of the extreme circumstances we are under at this time. Our duress is such that I have been forced to disrupt the flow of Time itself. For if I do not make the disturbances I do now, it will later be ripped warf and weave, thread by thread, until all we are, all we have known ceases to exist."

I afforded the man an incredibly slow blink. How had he known my name?? And, oh yeah, what was up with this circumstance and duress and Time talk? But he silenced my questions with no more than a look as they sat half-formed in my throat. The sorrow in his eyes deepened as though he had just added my own to his. "She knows what is right."

Amy drew her hands from mine, intent on the stone once. I looked past the old man and saw the source of the amber glow for the first time. It was a stone, a translucent thing scorched with blood-red veins. The living gem-as it pulsated with life-was meticulously carved in the shape of a phoenix, the legendary bird of flame. She was frozen in flight, her wings reaching skyward. My gaze slid to Amy once again and I knew her to be the phoenix.

She slid her hand over the smoothly crafted surface. A long, wondering breath escaped her lips. And she closed her fist over the glow.

"It is done." A weight was lifted from the Chinese man's ancient shoulders. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but he stood a bit taller. And yet I knew that this was just a drop in the rain-barrel.

Amy's eyes closed tightly against some pain and she bared her teeth, shook her head furiously. I called out, reached toward her to grasp her elbow in a steadying gesture. She disappeared within a pillar of flame.

"Amy! NOOOO!!" I heard the cry wrench itself from my own throat. For an instant, I could only stare into the ravenous blaze. Red fed into orange, orange into yellow, yellow into white. It was a living thing, much like the gem. My heart felt almost detached as I called her name again. Then, in wild desperation, I moved to reach into the conflagration, to find my Amy and pull her out.

Cosmo tried to hold me back, but I brushed him off mindlessly. "She is to be reborn! Don't mess with this, Conan!"

And the flames receded, collapsing inward on themselves until all that remained…was Amy. I felt fear then, felt my eyes widen and breath quicken. I felt it and hated myself for it.

"Conan? What's wrong?" she whispered, her voice low and frightened. I wanted to hold her, but could not find the strength to move. "Don't look at me like that, please." The plea hit me hard, woke me up. I stepped forward and took her into my arms.

I nearly burned my chin when I tried to rest it upon the top of her head. Her hair radiated the same heat one would expect from prolonged exposure to direct sunlight. My hands rubbed her back gently as I tried to discern the alien weave of her new clothing, a material I had never encountered before. She leaned her head against my shoulder and I winced involuntarily.

She felt me jump and stepped back, out of my embrace. Dark, confused eyes, traveled down her own body, taking in her new outfit: a light, flowing thing of a soft white and blue coloring. She gingerly touched her hair, long and golden in the moonlight. "Coz…what happened?"

Cosmo had a dashing grin all ready for her. "The bonding is complete! The powers trapped within the bloodstone are now within you, enhancing your own abilities to manipulate the Element of Fire. And I think we can replace that name of yours." He nodded sagely. I wanted to throw up. "Phoenix. That's a lot more appropriate than `Black Ninja.'"

Before I could strangle him within an inch of his life, he grabbed Amy's hand and broke into a run. "C'mon. The sooner I take you to the base planet, the better. You can meet the other Chosen and-"

"Stop." The word was nearly inaudible, but the tone held a command that I had taken nearly four hundred years to develop. They stopped.

"I'll let BN decide where she goes and why. Her life is her own…." I grasped her shoulder, willing her to stay, with me. "But I would know where and why. That's all I ask."

Amy slid a mask in place for me and her eyes smiled up into my own for a moment. Then she had to look away before the sorrowful shadow returned. I tilted her chin up until she looked at me. She regarded me tenderly for a time, then took a breath to answer.

Cosmo answered for her. "I can't tell you the planet's name (as if you Neanderthals could actually travel there on your own), but the mission is to save the universe from this green demon guy who wants to make us all very dead so he and his demon lackeys can have the run of the universe. Those not killed will become their slaves, and that is a fate worse than death. Okay?"

Amy glomped me and held me tightly. I could do nothing but embrace her and softly kiss the top of her head. She bit back a sob and nuzzled my shoulder. "Conan…. I…. I-"

"Phoenix! Time's a-wastin'!" She was swept from my breast then, and dragged toward the empty air where I knew Cosmo's cloaked vessel would be waiting.

"You are doing the right thing." That man, whose ancient eyes outdated his elderly body, was standing at my side once more. With me, he watched Amy and Cosmo board the invisible vessel. Once the muffled sound of their take-off had died out, he sighed and shook his head. "She will return to you. For you. For love of you. But it cannot be the same between you two. In this Time, it was not meant to be."

I pretended not to notice as the man dissolved into nothingness at my elbow. Instead, I stared at the full moon, stared long and hard. My teeth were clenched, my fangs bared, and the tears which coursed down my cheeks were so hot I could not tell whether they were indeed tears or blood. I was blind to all but the bleached-bone orb which cast its distant gaze upon me. But I knew. I knew we were locked in mutual hatred, and I would not be the first to blink. "Bastard. You laugh again. I have lost again, and here you are to laugh!"

I believe I was the cause of the damage the warehouse suffered that night. No one spoke of it, either to me or among themselves. Regardless, I didn't mind the torn skin and muscle of my fist. The pain and blood were exactly what I needed to clear my mind. Once I had a firm grasp on myself once more, I headed inside and slipped through the trapdoor into HeadQuarters. They accepted my news with varied responses. In the end, it was decided best to part ways. As Master Mind had just been apprehended and turned over to the authorities, our usefulness seemed to be at an end.

Finally, only I remained. I would still watch, and wait, though I tried to tell myself it wasn't for her. I knew people still needed us, and I would be ready. And if Amy happened to come back…. Well, I would be ready. After all, I believed the old man. Sometimes I can be really pathetic