[solo] a past addiction (aisa x kreios)

[revenant aria]

Since the horsemen had been restricted, thanks to the last battle, Aisa was ready to murder someone. Someone had the foresight to predict that leaving Aisa in such a closed proximity would be a very bad idea. It was probably another Protector or Medea that decided an unconscious Aisa would fare far better than a conscious one.

But Aisa despised falling prey to sleep, a rare inconvenience, she regarded with reluctant contempt.

Because that was when insanity was at it's best.

Aisa's long black hair pooled around her figure, her head slightly tipped to the side as she remained propped against a wall. Her pale color was paler than usual, her eyebrows drawn in furiously. She lacked her usual armor, the remnants strewn around the room in a careless fashion, leaving behind only her corset and crimson tatters. But in her hand, she gripped a broken clock, tightly, as if she would never let go. If she moved or stirred in her slumber, Aisa felt that something would break. She wasn't sure why they whispered stronger than ever now, why they seemed to slink around with alarming intensity.. But there was no shield from them, within her dreaming or waking world.

------------------------------------

This time, her insanity led her back to a forgotten memory, the blackness seeping into Aisa's battle-worn body, taking her back to a much younger time.

It was a rare time, when Aisa hadn't been praying or doing priestess-like duties. She just laid there, in her place of rest.

--"I'd happily be locked up forever, if it's by you." The voice murmured near her ears, the sweet caress of his breath against her pale skin. She was lying down, in not much more than her corset, her arms never moving from her previous sleeping position. She didn't know when Kreios had gotten in but she wasn't surprised. He moved with astonishing stealth, as expected of the guardian assigned to her. He was bent over her figure, his knees in between her own, his hand resting against a lock of her black hair.

"What rot, Krei."

There was a smile dancing across her lips but her eyes and voice held none of the humor. It was a dangerous time to toy with the newly appointed heir of death.. but those were the times that Kreios loved most.

"You know what they call you, Kreios?"

He didn't answer, although they both knew that he had full knowledge of the rumors. He just wanted to hear her voice, with that intolerable satisfaction of a black cat hidden under the poker-faced expression. Aisa didn't realize, at the time, it would have been a memory that was just as intolerable now, as it was back then.

Aisa, knowing no other way, indulged him.

"Eloquent and shrewd, you're one of the worst guardians of all. Even I, your priestess, can't tell what you ever really mean."

"I'm just a guardian, Ais." He bent down, to press a kiss against the curve of her neck, his lips traveling above to n** at the delicate lobe of her ear.

She shook her head, realizing Kreios was going to reveal nothing else.

"One day, you may cease to be, due to that nature."

He silenced her next words, with a rare intimate response. Even though Aisa could never predict his intentions, nobody could, she could read his silent agreement, his infuriating lack of denial.

It was true, he ceased to be, because of that nature. But he also ceased to be because of Aisa. But she felt no remorse, he had done as a guardian should have done.

-------------------------------------

She woke up, with a start, her hand reaching out to strangle a being that wasn't there. One palm, pressed against her forehead, stiffened as the insanity seemed to retreat back to their female container. A card, slipped out from somewhere in her red folds, the edges browned and stained with blood.

"No wonder, they called you "the hanged man."

A pity, he had to die in order for Aisa to become who she was now. With his continued existence, it would have never been possible. But at the time, she had been horribly addicted to those sweet lies that Kreios often whispered.

Even now, those whispers never faded.

 

[revenant aria]

Kreios's fingers ran along the bridge of Aisa's nose, to trace the outline of her lips. It was a scene they had just seen, moments earlier, before granting the enjoyment of death to yet, another star-crossed human couple. Aisa made no motion to stop Kreios's hand from hiking up her skirt, recently damp from the cleansing of the bloodbath earlier. They toyed with the idea of pleasure, in many instances earlier, with slow kisses that could bring a wave of pleasure.. or the consuming kisses, nearly choking, without a reprieve of breath. Even horsemen were vulnerable to that feeling.

She could feel his body press up against her own, molding perfectly into her shape. It was a delicious torture, the way he pushed and how she refused, every time. It had been much easier in the past decades to refuse Kreios, knowing of his penchant for playing with priestesses. It was a comforting thought, to know that he was her's but she would never be his. It was unlike the human association of a singular love.. She could discard him entirely at will but he could never discard her. Aisa, as heir, couldn't afford to be attached. Especially because the concept of death was always close. It was a nearly religiously obsessed attachment to Death, as humans did to their God.

For that, she felt no guilt. It was a poisonous relationship, one that ate at them both. But it wasn't as if Kreios didn't have his own benefits. He held her against him now, hands wrapped around her waist. One lifted to pull her hair apart, letting the coal locks drape over his armor. They worked together in ambiguous silence, slowly pulling off each other's armor. It was a natural affinity, gained after decades of being together. The sight of Aisa, in her casual state, was a sight exclusive to Kreios. Death, as scarce as his company as, has never seen it. The sight of Kreios was probably not as rare.

They sunk into her bed, a rare moment of pause.

"You're severe enough when you're repressed Ais.. I imagine, if you weren't, I'd have hell of a time dealing with you."

"Liar, you're the difficult one." Aisa leaned into his neck, biting his ear sharply. The taste of blood filled her senses, salty and not at all pleasing to her sense of taste.

"But you need me."

"That's because your difficulty is only exceeded by your skill-- both of which are almost on par with mines."

"There's somebody out there, stronger. Maybe not as much as Death but stronger than us, by far. Then, we'll get stronger--"

"--or die trying?" Aisa's cool tone was enough to slice, if made physical. Kreios was only speaking with a warrior's wisdom, the truth. One only got stronger by fighting stronger opponents. But Kreios's words were a test, a foretelling of the future.

"I've told you Kreios. Your existence ends when Death commands it."

"Or when you do. You guide my every action and thought. You may not be conscious of it.. but when the time comes, you'll be the end of me."

"Only Death influences me. I won't tell you to die unless he needs you to." Aisa whispered, her fingers running along the tattoo that cross his abdomen.

"One day Ais, you're going to make that decision.. and all without Death's help." He chuckled, pulling her closer. "Live for the moment Ais.. and speaking of the moment.."

 

[revenant aria]

"If there was only one single being in the world, who would you save?" Kreios asked, laying in Aisa's lap. His armored arms, embedded in scars, reached up to finger Aisa's short locks.

Aisa's answer was quick, without pause. "That's easy. Death, himself, naturally."

"Not myself?"

The thin trace of thickness in his husky voice, whether real or false, Aisa's wry smile never faltering. "Kreios, you might be the last person I would save." Aisa leaned down, to press a kiss against the silver ornaments around his head.

"Well, I'd save you. Even if Death had to fall prey to his domain for it, I'd save you."

Aisa's expression softened, knowing that line had been dispersed to many others. How many others, didn't matter.

"It's sweet you'd say that. It's even sweeter, how these cruel lips never speak the truth." Her fingers brushed his lips, the pads of her thumb tracing a slim line. She bent lower, to lay her body down against his, with little heed to the armor and gems in between them. How many times, had she seen him without those unnecessary articles-- If the world were to Aisa's whims, clothing was a trivial need. It hid far too much and benefited them far too little. She pretended, that a more naive and foolish side of her existed, at this moment to tell him the words he didn't want to hear. For promises that could never be made, in all the intricacies and complexities of the clan of Death. "Did you want me to tell you a sweet lie in return?"

"I don't want a world without you in it though, Ais."

He pronounced it like "ice." He was the only one to shorten her name like that.

"A world without Kreios.. I wonder."

But perhaps, he was speaking the truth.

"One day Ais, I'm going to invade every part of your being-- down to your soul, your core.. I'll be your one insanity and you won't be able to do a single thing about it."