Xilanada - Pursuit Of Regretted Truths/Part 5

All was ready...almost.

Iron and Pain Woven As One, Piiro's own soulsteel armor, was safely banished to Elsewhere and he now walked in his school suit, hardly mindful of the children around him. Too much had already happened today. Too much could still go wrong.

Tepet Malias was playing a dangerous game. It was safer, now that Xilanada had been ensnared by the Vizer...unless she was even stronger than Piiro believed she was. He was a careful man, a cautious man, and it was that quality that had endeared him to his mistress, the Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears. It was that quality that had made him the ideal choice to go on this little errand.

Piiro nodded to a student, now and then, as he walked. Not many nodded back. He was not the most well-respected Professor here, for he had striven to cultivate a pretentious air. That lack of respect was one reason those who could stop the plan would underestimate him, would never guess his name and nature.

"I'll see you in Alchemy tomorrow," Piiro said, pointing at one of his students. The child was a Hardened Killer, as many in the School now were. This one had missed class today because of the need to post guards on the wall where the two spies had disappeared. They did not know who their Master was, would never have guessed that arrogant Piiro was the Deathknight who had stirred their faith, incited fanaticism and given each and every one of them true purpose in this illusion called life.

For Piiro, whom the Lover had named Secret Glory in Abjection, it was all as it should be.

At least, on his end. Malias concerned him. The Dragon-Blooded Infernal had become increasingly unstable as time had passed. The Whispers that spoke to Piiro in his dreams, in his idle thoughts, in every waking moment told him that Malias had been conferring with Hell quite a bit lately. It worried him too.

Piiro's true reason for being here was to train a group of Hardened Killers, each of whom were or would become an Essence wielder. In a single stroke, the Lover had gained a hundred Exalts and God-Bloodeds who would serve her to the death. Even beyond. Especially beyond. That deluded Funerist had slain a few but, where one faction of his troops diminished, the other side grew as loyal, trained ghosts joined his cause.

What he didn't understand was Malias' cause, or the relationship between his masters and Piiro's own Deathlord. He didn't know why she had agreed to help demons breech Creation's shores by sending him. But he believed. Piiro was, in all things, faithful.

Now, he had only to wait until they needed Glee. Her hiding place would keep her pinned there until she was needed.

The doors to his private chambers rose ahead of him and Piiro unlocked the entrance before stepping inside. It was a plain affair, for he knew the transience of this world and had never bothered with collecting many things. What was surprising was that he had company.

"Hello, Piiro," Rainblown Joybringer said.

The God-Blooded was coiled across his bed, every glorious inch of his perfect body displayed except where that waist-length hair of his spilled across it. Almost as tender as a woman, yet as tightly-muscled as a long-distance messenger, the sight of Joybringer did indeed bring joy to Piiro's eyes.

Piiro rubbed his arm across his face and stared again. Then he blinked. How had he missed the Agata on the first glance?

The Beauteous Wasp was among the most lovely things ever to have been made. Creation itself had never held a creature of its wonder and Piiro could see the tales of its splendor were true. What he didn't understand was why it was perched across the foot of the bed.

"My love," Piiro said. "I wasn't expecting you. And not with a guest."

"I find the Wasp delightful to look at," Rainblown said pointedly. "Something to do while I waited for you to come back here. I missed you."

Piiro smirked, trying not to show how his lover's behavior unsettled him. For the past few weeks, Rainblown had seemed increasingly preoccupied with something, something that had been bothering him. Then he'd turned up in Malias' ritual area and had...done...what he'd done. Piiro got hard just thinking about all of Rainblown's blood over him and the same lust that had been in the God-Blooded's eyes.

Yet, as the hour approached, Rainblown seemed more erratic than ever. Was a conscience beginning to intrude after all? Had the God-Blooded been deceiving him after all?

Now here he was, in Piiro's own quarters where he'd never come before uninvited.

Rainblown rose from the bed and slid his arms around Piiro's neck, leaning in to kiss him hotly. Was the Professor trying to seduce him? But he was already seduced and they both knew it. Did Rainblown have another agenda? Whatever it was, it could wait as all thought flew from Piiro's head.

Rainblown trailed kisses down his body. And then...there was no further conversation for quite some time.

An hour later, Piiro stirred lazily in bed and came awake more fully as he realized how much time had passed. He stumbled out of the bed sheets and hastily began pulling his school suit on. It would be dark in a few hours, he had one more class to teach, and orders still to give.

"Don't go," Rainblown asked quietly from the bed.

"Rainblown, I have to. You know what has to happen tonight."

"What happens after?"

The words, never before spoken, hung in the air with a peculiar kind of life. Piiro paused with his pants half on. He straightened and looked over his shoulder at Rainblown. His lover's face was sober, serious, but not that occasionally off-putting distantly serene look he used to do a lot.

"Afterwards, my work in Nexus will be done."

"So you're leaving."

"I suppose anyone who survives will have to," Piiro said with a shrug. "Perhaps they'll rebuild later. I'm certain you could find another teaching post here once the mess has been cleared up. Unless Malfaes actually manages to rip the whole place into Hell, eh?" Piiro chuckled at the thought. The schemes of the Yozi's were impenetrable but ultimately as futile as the plans of Oblivion were inevitable.

"Where will you go?" Rainblown asked, watching without smiling as Piiro pulled his pants on and took an over-robe off a hanger from his wardrobe.

"Where the Lover wants me I expect," Piiro said, shrugging into the silky green garment. It had been a gift from Rainblown, actually, a soft-stated shade of leaf that would compliment his blue hair without being too hard on the eyes. He rubbed his thumbs over the smooth cloth and sighed.

"I want to go with you."

Those words, the very ones that Piiro had been hoping to hear for so long, were a sweet symphony to his heart. He couldn't but grin like a fool and even Rainblown began smiling a little. There was a strange softness in those eyes that had been so hard lately, Piiro thought. Had the Professor's heart finally fallen for him as his had for the God-Blooded?

"I want you to," Piiro said slowly. "If you're sure it's what you want."

"Why would you doubt me?" Rainblown asked, his voice even more subdued than ever.

"You know what I am now, Rainblown. You know what I have pledged my soul to, my life, my service."

"Yes," Rainblown said thoughtfully. "The destruction of your enemies, the acquisition of power, and the absolute mastery of the living and the dead."

"You're sure that doesn't bother you?" Piiro asked, trying to keep the hope out of his voice.

"Very sure," his lover answered, swinging out of bed and sweeping up his own robe from beneath the bed. "There is nothing for me in Nexus, my love. I have never been to the North. There, I would be away from all that reminds me of these lands. Perhaps I could even look up an old friend, too. So do you think the Lover would welcome me into her service?"

"She would find a place for you, of that I'm certain," Piiro said confidently. Rainblown's strength would never match a Celestial Exalt but the instructor was wise and canny in the way of magic. More than that, an expert in ward architecture was a commodity any Deathlord would wish to possess.

"I want to be with you when the School falls," Rainblown said, belting his robe on and pausing to straighten Piiro's own outer garments. "I want to watch you do it. And then...I will go with you, my love. I have always wanted a man I could respect. In you...I see everything I have ever hoped to find."

Piiro bowed his head, suddenly overcome with feeling. He'd loved the God-Blooded for so long now, it seemed. To have his love returned...could he be dreaming? Was this a reward for his peerless service? Whatever the source of this blessing, Piiro could only stand humbled by it. He put his arms around the man he loved and simply held him, overwhelmed with gratitude.

"Now, my love, you must go," Rainblown whispered in his ear. "You have glory to win. And I...I pledge myself to your side." He smiled and kissed Piiro lingeringly. "Come and get me when you're ready. I'll be waiting."

Piiro gave him a kiss in return and slipped out of his bedroom, in a mood too good for any problem to disturb. Besides, what could go wrong now? Ava would be dealt with soon, Glee would be taken for her role, Xilanada was already gone, and Malias would take care of Sen and Seya. All was going well after all.

Humming a cheery dirge, Piiro went about his work.