Blac and White

Hey everyone. Back with the 5th episode as promised. My exam is over and I kinda screwed it up, but life must go on I guess.

Anyway, the story progresses onwards now. There have been many typing errors and missing words in my stories before and I am completely at fault for that. That's what having no editor does to you I guess. Will try to lessen the frequency of those, hope they don't completely hinder the reading experience.

And yeah, some of you have not read that tiny prologue of 'Black and White' and are a bit confused. I feel it is imperative you do so. You can find it along with the remaining part of the series. It will just take a couple of minutes to read it anyway.

Anyways, onwards with the story now.

*

Episode 5

Aiden sat facing Steve in the uncomfortable wooden chairs. Just the two of them sat across table. Aiden had been looking forward to the junction when the two new people in his life would meet each other. Looked like that moment was temporarily delayed.

Scott had stopped short when he came towards the table and had a livid expression on his face. He fetched out a glowing cellphone from his pocket as he signaled to the group that there was a call waiting to be answered; he walked away holding the phone to his ear. Aiden looked back at Will and noticed a raging expression which was slowly suffusing into a deadpan face. Aiden opened his mouth to say something but Will abruptly got up, pushing the chair out form under him; he stated he needed to visit the washroom.

And that left only Aiden and Steve sitting on the table for four. Aiden wondered if Scott and Will knew each other from before or something, but then let the thought slip form his mind. It was just his imagination. So it was just Steve and him at the table now.

"You know, I think Jason found out about me," Aiden stated suddenly.

"Uh?" Steve looked at his roommate with a confused expression on his face.

"I think," Aiden reiterated clearing his throat, "Jason found out I'm gay."

"What? How?"

"I don't know how but he's been acting weird since the last few days. He's been avoiding me everywhere."

Steve stared at Aiden with a credulous expression on his face. "Do you know for sure that he knows?"

"Yes I'm sure."

Steve waited for Aiden to continue.

"Today he went all red when I was in my underwear in the room. He bolted when I tried to talk to him, but it's not only that; he's shunning me everywhere else too. I'm spending every night at Will's place so I'm not in the room with you two at night, which is a good thing or he might have been sleeping in somebody else's room as well." Aiden was babbling for his mind got all jumbled up when he thought about Jason.

Aiden heaved out a deep breath and bit his lips nervously. Steve had a sorrowful expression on his face. The two sat in silence absorbing the implications of the words said.

"Well yeah, he's extremely warm and friendly," Steve finally broke the silence between them, "but when it comes to matters like this, he's totally insular."

"So what should I do?" Aiden was exasperated. He could not bear the thought of losing one of his greatest buddies.

"Look Aiden, Jason's like a spider in a web. He knows of nothing other than the universe he's in. He will be forever merry in his own happy-go-lucky world, but if something from outside his realm disturbs him, he will shut down and avoid it. I think you know this as well as I do."

Aiden nodded acknowledging the fact. He had always known that Jason was one person who would have severe trouble accepting his sexuality.

"I don't think there will be much point in approaching him, but you can give it a try."

Aiden was terrified at the thought of approaching Jason with such a matter. What in the world would he say to him?

"Actually, it's a good thing he got to know of it now." Steve continued, "With Will around so much he would have gotten to know sooner or later anyway."

"I'd prefer later than sooner." Aiden muttered under his breath. Here was a close friend of his who would balk and flee at the mention of his sexuality and there was a new friend he had made that had so casually accepted him.

"You know, Scott also knows that I'm gay."

"What?" Steve was dumbfounded again at the same matter. "Shit! Really?"

"Yeah, in fact he himself broached the subject and sorta outed me, and he's perfectly cool with it, in fact even supportive of it."

"Wow!" was all Steve could say after opening and closing his mouth a few times. "When I play tennis with him in the mornings he's always asking about you and somehow involving you in the topic. I thought he had it for you or something."

"No he doesn't!" Aiden exclaimed before his mind could let him think otherwise. The possibility that Scott was interested in him was titillating, but he had Will now, didn't he? "In fact he knows that I'm involved with Will."

"He knows Will?"

"No, he was going to meet him for the first time today, but Scott knows that I am involved with some other guy."

Steve paused before he put forward his next thought; "Shit Aiden! How the hell do you suddenly have such mind-blowing guys after you?"

Aiden coughed mockingly as Steve used 'mind-blowing' to describe guys. Aiden wondered how his life over the last few days had been absolutely dreamy, mixed with a few bumps. He had changed the way he looked, with the new hairdo and lenses which were a bitch sometimes, but he liked it. It was exactly one week ago that he had met Will, and was already so completely involved with him. How far would they go? He knew that he would try to always keep Will happy and go as far as possible with Will. Maybe they would even...

And then there was Scott. He had really hit it off with him as well. These two men that had added brilliant multicolored strokes to his black and white life. Two men that always tried to make him smile. Two men he was going to try and keep happy in return.

Aiden wondered where were those two men were now?

~~~

White stood on the deserted path at the entrance of the wide black building. A sign that would be lit in flashing red and yellow neon lights during the functioning hours of the amusement park announced that this structure was the 'Hall of Mirrors'. And the strong oppugning spiritual force oozing from inside indicated that his adversary was inside.

'So we fight here', he thought to himself as he climbed the two steps to enter the building and noticed that the chain that was supposed to be tied to two iron bars at the entrance was lying in two pieces on the floor. He pushed the sliding door and slipped inside.

White walked towards the increasing gradient of his arch opponents spirit force. He was finally going to fight Black. He could not remember if he had fought him at all before, but he had, hadn't he? He must have. It was strange then that he could not remember. He walked across the zigzag paths between the multitudes of mirrors which formed innumerable kaleidoscopical images of his form, reflecting images and after-images, some deformed and some perfectly upright.

He turned around a corner and was confronted by his titan opponent. Black stood in a centre clearing with a grim expression on his face. The passage was lined on all sides with an arcade of mirrors at various angles between which were reflected hundreds of images of the mighty dark seraph, channeling all the way to the extremely last glass mirrors.

"So we meet." White stated icily as he stepped closer to his rival. The mirrors all around were rapidly changing colors and shape to accommodate and reflect the new entry into the passage.

"So we do." Black replied as his hands swiftly fell to his sides and black mist enveloped his palms and slowly dissipated till the evanescent forms left behind two rigidly straight long sharp edged black swords that reached all the way to the ground, one in each hand. White immediately took note of the fact that Black had wasted no time in summoning his most powerful fighting companions; the 'Twin blades of Alacrity'. The thin savage black pair of swords were rumored to be capable of cutting through anything.

Instantly White concentrated his energies as a brilliant white light dazzled in front of his hand and he called upon his own battle comrade; the 'Helos Sabre', the almighty sword that had defeated Pi. But this battle White knew would be no where as 'easy' as the previous one.

Unknown to White, the telepathic voice of a little girl was booming inside his opponent's head, ordering him to come back. Black paid no heed to the voice, ignoring the commands of his Empress.

Eliciting a battle roar Black lunged towards his opponent as hundreds of mirror images everywhere changed locations rapidly. Wasting no time White swung out his sword which clashed resoundingly with the twin blades and black and white sparks scintillated from the impact. Black moved around rapidly and swung both his blades in wide circular arcs; one after the other as White countered each blow and counterattacked in return.

A mighty sword melee had begun as the two sworn enemies danced about in a hall of glasses, swords were clashing in hundreds of locations in the vicinity, as images copied out the scene in front of them. Shining white and misty black sparks flew in all directions.

White was astonished at the speed, skill and savagery of his opponent, he could barely keep up with the tempo with which the fight was progressing. He realized that if things continued like this he would have no time to cast any spells; but then neither would his adversary.

White was steadily losing ground as his redoubtable foe pushed him backward with a series of double strikes and precise cuts. He had been nicked with the stinging blade twice already and was nowhere near even touching his opponent. He swung the sword of the sun around defensively and helplessly as Black pushed him into a narrower passage filled with mirrors of all types.

Out of the blue white noticed an opening to strike as Black pulled back and seemingly rested his sword low. White lurched forwards to attack as Black chanted, "Ability of the Shadows 95; Image Replication."

White stopped his attack at the last moment. What was this? Standing ahead of him were four, no five maybe seven images of a dark angel with thin long blades in both hands. The innumerable images on the mirrored walls of Black and his illusive image forms made it almost impossible to tell the real one apart from the juxtapositions.

'Impossible but not quite', White thought to himself as he focused on a particular image and lunged forward with his sword. A lunging silver arc and sharp pain across his torso informed him that his chest had been slashed at. White screamed in pain as he skidded across the floor and crashed into a mirrored wall. The glass shattered and slivers of it sprinkled all around him. He had made a mistake. The real enemy had not been correctly recognized.

"What's the matter Witenhoem?" Black asked with a contemptuous smile on his face. "Can't you tell which one of me is real?"

White gritted his teeth as the pain as blood oozed out of a deep cut in his chest. He pressed his hand against his torso to stop the flow of blood which continued its incessant flow. He would have to go on fighting, and he would have to be more careful.

White got up and steadied himself scowling at his adversary. With a howl he lunged forward and brandished his sword in long strokes as Black counterattacked and dodged. A few swings later he finally got his first touché on his opponent as he left a streak of blood across his shoulder. A myriad of images and reflections on the hundreds of mirrors could be seen dancing around in a frenzied manner as the two warriors clashed their swords to prove their sleight of hand. Black reprised with powerful blows matched by his opponent till suddenly White was confused by a dazzling set of 'Blacks' that somehow joined the ruckus. Had Black not send away the images of his spells yet? White continued concentrating on his first opponent knowing that the images were just illusions and he had to somehow beat up only this one dark angel. A couple of strokes later he lost his opponent in the myriad of reflections, after reflections and doppelgangers that Black had created. He slashed around frantically dispelling a couple of the illusory forms of Black that vanished in fumes as soon as his sword touched them. But his real opponent had managed to evade him. Where was the real Black?

This time the blow of blades came as two punishing cruel streaks across his back as the cloth tore apart and ugly ragged lacerations were left behind by the blades of Alacrity. White grimaced and whirled around only to find Black's right foot connecting with his jaw as his body was flung across the air and plummeted against mirrors that shattered and fell clinking around him. Slivers of glass were embedded within him in several places now.

"You are really bad at this you know." Black simpered evilly as he examined his shoulder where White had left a mark. "You should possess much more skill if you want to fight for the Alchemist."

White looked disgustingly as his opponent as the dark Seraph stated, "The boy is mine," The dark angel voice was heavy with conviction. Conviction interlaced with determination that went unnoticed by White.

White got up once more unsteadily as shards of glass fell around him. The right side of his jaw where Black's foot had connected was throbbing with pain as blood trickled out from the corner of his mouth. He was having no luck with the mirrors and images; all were illusory deceptions for him. And all were contributing to give him a sound thrashing. The ruler of the kingdom of Light would not lose in such a derogatory manner!

White balanced himself on his feet as he raised himself up and to face the several images of Black that were standing menacingly around him. He held out his left palm and opened his mouth to chant, "Ability of the Light 3; Fusillading Shards."

Dozens of small crystal shaped glowing embers materialized in his palm which he flung in the space ahead of him before Black could react. The numerous crystals scattered in all directions, hitting Black and his replication images. The shards were insignificant in doing damage but easily dissipated the images leaving only the lone dark angel standing with his two dark sleek swords by his sides. White immediately lunged forward towards Black, his sword had burst into golden flames. He would put his entire being into defeating his enemy.

~~~

Aiden glanced around the restaurant expecting either Scott or Will to turn up any instant. It had been over 10 minutes since they both abruptly left him. Where were they now?

Aiden smiled apologetically at Steve before he fished out his phone to try and call Will reckoning that to be better than going into the washroom and checking up on him. A taped message informed him that the phone was switched off. Aiden 'humphed' as he excused himself from Steve and headed towards the washrooms.

~~~

The Empress of Woe was furious. It was night time; a time that prevented her from crossing over to the material plane; owing to the midnight curse that had once been placed upon her. And this was the second time during the 6 days that she needed to desperately cross over to the other side, this time to prevent her Guardian from fighting her greatest foe; at least for now. She had been commanding her dark warrior incessantly to give up the battle and return to her but to no avail. Arangyunus simply ignored her.

It looked like the dark angel was giving her sworn enemy a sound thrashing but the outcome to the battle could change any instant. And she was not prepared under any circumstances to lose her Guardian to White now. She had lost Arangyunus to White long ago, though in a very different manner and would not condone something like that happening again. She cursed the air around her as she etched a hexagon of blood on the floor of her chamber and knelt down at its centre to begin her chanting.

She would have to forcibly bring back her warrior.

~~~

Black was taken aback at the swiftness and sudden outburst of his enemy. White had cleverly destroyed all his after images with the fusillading shards and had destroyed several of the mirrors in the hall as well. They would serve to lessen his state of confusion as the two fought.

White was on a power surge, his entire body was iridescent in a golden sheen as the swords was flaming in bright golden yellow; a sign that the Keeper of the light was in a state of heightened power. The three swords swung around and clashed as the Blades of Alacrity met with the Helos Saber but Black was losing ground this time. The sheer heat his opponent was emanating form his form was scalding him. He could counter his White's heat aura with a spell but White's tempo and savagery rendered him devoid of any time to do so.

In his mad rage, White charged at his opponent as a juggernaut and several massive swings of the Helos Saber later, he had managed to severely injure Black across the abdomen. Black flinched at the slash across his abdomen as he staggered backwards into a thinner passage filled with mirrors. 'This was it!' White thought to himself. A perfect opening!

White pulled back his left hand as he hurtled forwards towards Black; one powerful punch to the face and his opponent would reel under the blow. Black whirled sideways and a horrified expression came across his face as White's extended fist came like lightning towards him.

Crash! White cursed himself as colossal pain recoiled through his arm and body. His fist had connected with a mirrored wall which now stood cracked open. He had mistakenly attacked a mirror thinking it to be his adversary. He swirled around to find his opponent but reacted too late as Black's leg swung out at his stomach and send him flying through the air for a second time.

White crashed heavily against a wall as he slumped down to the ground, still wielding his sword in hand. He had been fooled again. Was he that inefficient? His knuckles had been split open where he had pounded the wall with them and his stomach hurt to the point where his entire body was queasy with pain. He would not be able to fight for more than a few swings anymore.

"Confused again?" Black asked, standing upright with his two swords. "Won't you ever learn?"

Black's skin was searing everywhere due to the heat radiating from his rival. His abdomen had been cruelly slashed across as the cloth gave away and blood spilled out in a gruesome manner. But he was going to win this battle now. He brought forward both his swords till they formed a plus sign in front of his chest and chanted. "Ability of the Shadows 80; BlackMist Aura."

Instantly a wispy grey fog surrounded his body enveloping it and making it seem hazy and translucent. This mist would protect him from the heat of his opponent and at the same time increase the acuity of his dual swords.

He looked at his opponent who was once again groggily lifting his self up. "Do you think you can defeat me now White?"

White stood grimly with his gaze lowered toward the ground. His opponent was very powerful, with the correct combination of speed, power and precision. This was the Dark Angel after all, his own counterpart. On top of it all, his opponent could tell his real self from the since he carried a sword only in his right hand. Black carried two swords and the mirrors would not give that away by laws of linear inversion. But he could not lose now. Losing to him would mean losing the Alchemist, and he had sworn that he would protect such nobility. It did not matter if he had to part with his life, he would protect the Alchemist with his last bit of energy.

"Ability of the light 19; Raging Inferno."