Eleven

Yohai heard crying from the main part of the apartment and considered going to see what was going on, though she was fairly sure she knew what was happening.

Her magic was different than most people's, but what she could do was useful in many ways.

The girl, Luna, was a seer, though it seemed like she hadn't spent much time refining or mastering her ability.

The Council had told Yohai that her eyes would see things that people of this world probably weren't ready to learn about. Things about themselves, things about each other, things about what hid in the dark places of the world.

Her pupils shifted from slits to their normal shape and she sighed as she released the mana for that particular change.

The runes in her eyes stopped glowing and she heard heavy footsteps, Mark, moving around.

Fast, hard, running to the bedroom.

Slow and disoriented, that'd be Luna, probably recovering from her vision.

The steps changed in speed and pattern back and forth, probably arguing now, though about what she actually wasn't sure.

It wasn't about her, that much she knew.

When Mark and Luna had discussed her in the hospital, the mana in their bodies had radiated, strong and angry.

Now...there was something else.

There was anger, yes, but...sadness?

What had Luna seen?

It had to be her vision, of that Yohai was positive, but there were all sorts of things that Luna could have seen.

She could have seen Mark with that woman, might have seen those men who had broken into the apartment while they slept the night that Auros had tried to kill himself.

Oh.

It hadn't occurred to her before now that Luna hadn't known about why Auros was in the hospital that day, but then she wondered why she was surprised. Auros wouldn't have told her and Mark didn't seem like he had much motivation to tell her something like that.

Moving to the wall, she cracked the door and listened for whatever was happening.

"I don't understand why its ok that he didn't tell you, but I'm some kind of asshole for wanting to make sure you were ok," Mark shouted.

"Me?! He tried to KILL himself, and you KNEW," Luna shouted back, her voice still shaky from crying.

"Yes, ok Luna, I knew. In the hospital. I didn't think that was the best time to talk to you about it," Mark responded, his voice subdued, though the defiance in his voice was still there.

"Yohai knew too," Mark said, trying to deflect the focus from him.

"Yes, Yohai knew," Luna responded.

"You don't seem upset with her," Mark said.

Slow and shaky steps again as Luna moved toward the front door and said, "I'm not married to her, Mark. I'm married to you and you know how I feel about Auros...you know that and you still didn't tell me."

Mark answered her quietly, "How do you feel about him?"

The door opened and there was silence.

It stretched on for what felt like ages, so long that Yohai considered just going out and seeing what was actually going on.

Luna seemed to have a moment of clarity, realizing what she was saying and answering, "I...I don't know, Mark."

"You still love him...don't you," he said quietly.

"I never stopped loving him...I just...I don't know how I love him right now," she answered.

Mark sat down and said, "Don't you remember what it was like toward the end? All the fighting?"

"I think maybe there were things we couldn't see sweetie. I think maybe there are still things we can't see," Luna responded, gently propping herself against the open door frame.

Mark hit the bed, "You mean things he won't let us see, Luna. We tried this and it ended badly."

"You're right...look, I'm not saying that I want to get back together with him...I just...I think its worth talking to him about things again."

"What's to talk about, Luna? What else could he possibly have to say that might change things? We helped him so many times, and all it got us was fighting and disappointment."

Mark dropped backward so he was looking up at the fan and said, "That's all we're going to get from anything more than we have now."

Luna walked toward their bedroom and said, "Maybe...maybe not. Don't you think we deserve to know why he was that way?"

"He's just...he's so difficult, hun. You reach out to him and he slaps your hand away. Its just what he does."

"Maybe there's a reason for that though," Luna said, "and he"

"You want to help your friend, and that is a good thing...but have you ever considered that maybe he just...can't be helped," Mark asked bluntly, cutting her off, "that maybe what's happening inside of him only he can fix?"

Luna sat for a moment, her frustration palpable.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off, I just...I don't want to see you hurting like that again," he said quietly.

The fan creaked above them, the only sound in the silence between the two partners.

Luna lay next to Mark and said, "Thank you for loving me and worrying…"

"Just...please...whatever you do...if you do talk to him...just...stay friends? Please?"

Luna nodded, fighting past the knot in her stomach, and said, "I can do that."

They turned to each other and wrapped their arms around one another in a loving embrace.

The front door closed, clicking silently as Auros turned to leave, tears in his eyes.

His heart felt close to bursting and he leaned back against the door, crying quietly.

He didn't know what he'd expected.

He didn't know what he wanted to expect.

He didn't belong here.

Maybe he'd been right all along...maybe he'd never belonged here.

They were so much happier without him...without having to worry about him, or argue with him.

The Auros with shining eyes said, "You know...its weird seeing myself so pathetic."

Auros looked down at the end of the hall where Shining Eyes stood smirking darkly.

Something about him made Auros feel afraid, like he was looking at something that was...wrong somehow...like it didn't belong.

Shining Eyes retorted, "Yeah, you don't belong either."

Auros looked back down, focusing on his hands, as though they had some kind of answer for him, as though they could fix the hole in his heart.

In seconds Shining Eyes was on him, holding him up by his throat, "Don't you look away from me!"

Auros looked him in the eyes and said, "Whatever you're going to do, just do it."

"Wow, you really don't care if you die here, do you," Shining Eyes said, genuinely surprised.

"Maybe you're better at murder than I am at suicide."

Shining Eyes dropped him to the floor and turned to leave, disgusted.

Auros felt Mark and Luna's mana and emotions, their passion, their craving for each other, burning harder and brighter by the second.

Shining Eyes reached the end of the hallway and leapt off the stairwell, landing silently ten stories down, barely breaking his stride as he walked away.

Auros stared at his hands and as he felt the energies mingling and increasing, his eyes flickered a dim red as he thought of death.