(no subject)

[solo_insanity]

Apparently today is a good day for writing. A going home scenario for him, because I've had this rattling in my head since December.

***

"Come now, you have to admit you see the appeal of it. At least remotely, don't you?" Tyki leaned against the window of a shop watching people mill about the street. Mostly sparse for this time of day, but a woman and her girl were just crossing the street.

"Yes. Yes. But you have to agree that we should at least---"

"Mister. Mister. Who are you talking to?" Wide eyes of a girl with black hair and a pretty dress stared up at him in wonder. She was no more than the age of eight. On reflex, he knelt down and patted her on the head with a smile.

"Is that so?" With a flick of his wrist, he produced a lollipop out of his inner coat pocket and handed it to her. He'd bought it one a whim, two of them actually, and it wasn't as if he was going to ever eat the sweet. "I think he would be offended."

She giggled as she accepted the gift, but protested. "But there isn't anyone there!"

Before he could respond her mother gave interrupted them and pulled her child away by the hand. She ushered an apology that they were in a hurry toward Tyki. As the girl was being dragged off, she looked behind her over her shoulder curiously.

Who am I talking to? Tyki scoffed to himself as he stood. Surely, it was the man right...

...

...

Only his reflection of the shop glass was there to great him.

***

He upturned the mattress and took the shelves out of the dresser looking for it again. How could he have lost it? He'd had that pack of cards for years. He sat down heavily on a wooden, creaky chair with a sigh. As he lit a cigarette, he berated himself for getting attached to such a simple object. It wasn't as if it wasn't replaceable. And besides, just a while back he found a knife, a small pistol, a faded piece of paper work that looked like a medical chart with only his name was legible, and a silver Exorcist button with his name on it. For the life of him, he couldn't remember where he had gotten any of these things.

He never imagined himself a klepto-drunk. But apparently, at least for one night, that was the case.

Oh, and a necklace with a poker chip. Honestly, he just shook his head. He was getting to be quite tacky.

But he kept all these things anyway.

***

"My dear, you worry entirely too much."

"... ... The ticket to London is still the same price. I'm not giving you a discount."

He blinked up at the German woman with the brown curly hair. "Ah...."

He paid the full amount and boarded the train.

***

The redhead in his lapped giggled uncontrollably and nestled closer against him. She had entirely too much to drink tonight. Which is why with a grin he refilled her glass and gave it to her. She took a sip and looked at him unfocused.

"How old are you again?"

"My, my, what a question? Does it really matter?"

She laughed again and placed the glass on the table or tried to. It tipped over and spilled all over the table, but both of them were a bit preoccupied to notice or care.

***

It became the old routine again soon enough year after year. But something had changed. He could never pinpoint what, but he knew it was important. It took him years to finally do something about it.

***

Two out of three times they died cursing. The other time they usually died screaming. The body of the young male hit the floor with a wet sound. Eyes open. Lifeless. Viewing something only the dead could see. The Exorcist and her pet had the skill and technique honed by years of practice. The outcome was never in question to begin with.

Two figures watched from across the street and above. The high apartment balcony gave them plenty of prime seating to the view below.

"Noah?"

"Hmm..."

It was a name he took when with them. The new ones. The next generation of those who would hold the Memories. For the time being, he decided to break the ties with the past. Everything that was 'Tyki Mikk' he stored away in a lock box in a bank in Switzerland. He hadn't forgotten it by any means, but it was merely a pause on that life until everything was in place. He'd go back to it. He assured himself of that fact over and over again.

"He didn't even last a week."

"They rarely do." That was sadly the truth. In the past years only one had survived the initial awakening and lived a year. And she was standing next to him. Tryde. Tyki closed his eyes for as he felt the Memory returned to him from the recently deceased host. He never understood why they came back, they just did. Regardless, it was a bittersweet sensation. The return always made him feel whole. Complete. But it was always a setback. One step away from the goal he had been striving for.

However, the untimely death of Desires couldn't be blames solely on the cooling corpse of the young man. The new teacher, the new gatherer of Noah did not take the same approach as the former Millennium Earl. He greeted them upon their awakening and spent a few minutes explaining the circumstances. Oh, but the new ones were wild at that point. Drunk on power and fear and the need to kill. An unquenchable urge. And so Tyki left them to their own devices for a year. He wouldn't coddle them. Or watch over them. They needed to grow and survive on their own. Only then would they be true members of the Noah Clan. He didn't want ones who couldn't function on their own. They had to be more than just a host. More than just a fake, a wannabe. They had to be real.

Tyki watched the Ark's gate form near the body of the Exorcist. The scientists crawled out first. The finders would follow next, but he had already put a hand on Tryde's back and started to lead them away. He himself had not made contact with the Order. Not yet. Let them worry and wonder who was pulling the strings. Or if the Memories themselves decided to surface without the guide of the Maker. Let them kill the new ones over and over again and get into a false sense of security. Those that lasted would be his army.

"I know of a nice restaurant on the other side of town. I do hope Italian sounds appetizing enough for dinner. With wine, of course."

Their footsteps echoed as they returned indoors. It would take time. He knew it would. To sculpt the world the way he wanted it.

Truth be told Tyki Mikk had long forgotten why he was trying to rid the world of one long and everlasting war. Not that he had lost his way, but such memories were stripped from him on his departure from that place. A last insult. But even that couldn't make him forget completely about a vow he made. A promise.

Good ideas be damned, if we can pull it off, why shouldn't we?

After the years turned into decades, it remained ingrained in his head. Time never seemed to have any hold over it.

A new world to our liking, all our skills and memories. Everything. Why bother if we can't get it all?

Even after the smell of the ocean breeze and the smoke from the fireworks had long disappeared.

When we're ready, we'll make it ours.

For rarely did he make such a promise and mean it to the core of his being.

To living. And may we have one hell of a ride.

And he meant to keep it.

***




Italics are not my words. They are stolen from this talented Rper here this thread. All credit goes to her. Also, stole the idea of text align from Ace.