Inai Ni Yami ((Within Darkness)) {{FINISHED}}

Inai Ni Yami ((An Original Story)) Chapter 7

Chapter 7

We got up early that day. I was forced back into the Barajou look-alike appearance but luckily, we chose our own clothes again. Upon leaving the shop, I found myself staring at fanfare, fireworks - the lights that usually signaled it was day were tuned low enough for them to be seen- and dancing people in the middle of the street while tons of people watched it all from the sidelines, smiling and laughing. Though all of them were Kurai. Seeing as the two girls before me were Dorei and I was the only Kurai, they walked behind me, Kagami giving me the directions and telling me when to turn in case I forget.

I felt like an idiot as we walked through the throngs of people. Today was Kurai-Independence day, kind of like the humans above in the northern American continent had their own Independence day. The only difference between our independence days was the fact that they celebrated getting away from some other people. We were celebrating the takeover of the Dorei's.

Back in the day, about thirty years ago, there was a war. Kurai's used their magic to fight, ultimately draining themselves dead while the Dorei used whatever resources they could to keep themselves alive. But then the Kurai began taking in hostages, replenishing their energy, their power. Their life. After that, it was pretty much game over for the Dorei. Groups of them were daily stolen away and brought into slavery until all that stood was the royal family and half of their army. Then it was only the royal family.

Forty years back, there was peace. Kurai and Dorei lived and spoke with each other the way they'd been at that shop earlier. There were still Kurai houses and whatnot to keep our people controlled, and there was also a royalty for the Dorei. They didn't have a castle or any of the crown stuff like the world above us, but they possessed an army and enough power to keep the Kurai's in check. Because they knew we were getting greedy.

Thirty-five years ago, tensions began growing. The Kurai were beginning to discover ways to drain away the essence that made the Dorei's a Dorei; eternal and undying. About then was when the first Dorei ever died of life drainage and not from fatal injury. About then, the Kurai also began to build their own army of powerful Kurai on the sly. The royalty was left unknowing and ignorant as the other side grew stronger in not only fighting forces but in technology.

In that particular part of history, father was involved in. Or at least, my grandfather was. He's not alive to this day, but the old man managed to live up to the age of fifty. His Kurai power was to be able to see what made a machine what it was, how it was constructed and what useful components could make it better. That's how ShiroTech started. And of course, it never ended. Back to the History lesson now!

So like I said, thirty-five years ago was when everything began to crash. Things happened, slowly acting as catalysts to the war that was to come. Sure, everything seemed nice and peaceful on the outside. Most Kurai's were still friends with their Dorei neighbors and nothing was seemingly wrong. Life couldn't be better for most. But of course, there was the army building itself, slowly crawling out of the dark confines of their training centers and making public news. Dorei's were devastated.

Thirty-one years back, tensions broke. The Dorei's backed away from where they lived and made their own community surrounding the royalties living quarters, which was quite large. Their own army grew in number and power while the Kurai houses and Dorei royalty met to try and stop the pending war. They called the visits peace-talks. But it wasn't all peace. Not when Hanatsuki, the queen Dorei, was assassinated at one of these meetings. After the queen, three of her daughters were targeted and the three were successfully killed. Their names were Evelyn, Rika and Sorana. They never got their own graves.

Finally, thirty years ago, it all clashed. The war began full force and weapons were the main manufacture of the Kurai world and of ShiroTech. Suits that were considered high-tech back then were only given to the army and every person in a Kurai House. Other Kurai families that were mostly considered... commoners, built their own sheds in case of a direct attack. Which wasn't exactly true. The war was dubbed as "The Whispered War" because of how the attacks went down. Of how the Kurai's slowly, quietly took away Dorei's, drawing them away from their home like a whisper being carried off into silence. And even though most call it 'Independence Day,' few other Kurai's call it the 'Day of Whispers.' I was one of those few.

"Hime, take a right. We're almost there." 'There' was wherever this amazing technician friend of theirs was. He couldn't be better than me, though. I had the Shiroi brains my grandfather had, even if I didn't have his specific power. Or a specific power, for that matter. I did as asked, taking a right and trying to shoulder past the Kurai's. In turn, they glared at Kagami and Barajou, not even giving me a second glance. Because I was the Kurai and they were the Dorei.

Today, emotions ran high. What wasn't normal happened. Dorei's were treated worse. The Kurai had a new attitude towards the Dorei because of the way they'd retaliated towards the Kurai. It pissed me off, but if I were to try and do something about it, I'd end up as a Mecka-Kikai. Criminals and Dorei's that don't behave are always turned into Mecka-Kikai's, never to be reverted to their original self. So I bit back a remark and walked on, annoyed.

"Stop right here," Kagami said, just as one of the HolloRoid's in the air blinked on to show a boy who looked too much like me. My mouth dropped while Kagami beside me said, "I don't believe it." I myself didn't. The hair was the exact same thing. Loose locks whose color was undecided, going through both blonde and brunette. I frowned, seeing his smile while those identically blue eyes flashed with the lights of about a hundred camera flashes. Father stood beside him, smiling just as widely but with a different look to it. Maliciousness.

"Mr. Shiroi, what are your words on the assassination of your eldest son, Kuro, that took place earlier yesterday?"

Father looked straight into the camera, showing his face to the whole world through the HolloRoid. Eyes glistened with tears that wouldn't be shed because of their 'authenticity.' The old man was a perfect actor, good enough to be in a show or maybe in a movie. He was even pouting slightly, giving his young face a good rewind a few more years.

"My son, Kuro Sora Shiroi, was one of my best friends and assistant when it came to the company. He was loyal, always following up on the small tasks I gave him. Completing them flawlessly. He was all I ever wanted in an heir. He was my mirror image. But the assassination changed it all. While most of you may think it was he," he pointed at the replica of me, "my son Rio, who had killed him, it was not. In fact, it is believed a Dorei did this. And she looks like this." A picture of Barajou appeared in the screen, green eyes flashing with determination as she struggled to look away from the camera.

"Shit," Kagami hissed beside me, suddenly pulling us away from the people and into an alleyway. Her eyes looked panicked as she looked between me and Barajou, unsure of what to do. Barajou said something, eyes as panicked as Kagami's. This wasn't good. This wasn't right. "I can't do that! He'll know how you look! He'll know how I look! We can't have people see us!" I looked at the two, still in their conversation. I couldn't hear what Barajou was saying, and after a while, I gave up and turned back to the large HolloRoid. I needed to hear for myself what was going on.

"...goodness I have Rio with me. He's just as good as Kuro an quick on the follow up. I don't know what I'd do without him. He's my last heir in this family. The only hope I have that ShiroTech will live on eternally." Eternally. Those words struck through me, like a stab through the heart but as I thought of it, as I remembered what had happened in the last few days, I questioned everything of myself. Did I have a heart? If there's an exact replica of me, standing right next to my father with a smile and looks exactly like mine, then what am I?

"Battle Mode Two: Mirror Minion."

I ran a hand through the red curls that were my guise's hair. Was that what I was? A mirror of the boy standing up there? Was that maybe why I'd been confined in my room all this time? As a replacement, not only for when Kuro was out of the picture, but for when this new Rio went out too? What am I? What the hell am I?!

"Rio, we've heard you went on the run for a while yesterday and that a battalion of Mecka-Kikai's have been completely wiped out in that time span. Did you happen to see what happened there and who might've done it."

Rio, I, looked at the camera with a perfect smile that slowly faded to a grimace. Everyone in the crowd looked at me, enraptured. "Yes, I was there at the incident," we said in perfect sync, even as my mind began to withdraw itself from the world before me and back into the white world. "It was an incredible sight, something none of you would ever be able to imagine yourself. Two women-" we were cut off as something slapped me in the face. Dizzy, I staggered back, just in time to look into Barajou's green eyes. They flashed with uncertainty. She pressed a quick kiss to my lips.

"Whatever you do, do not speak. Do not so much as think about who we are or what we did, understand?" I nodded, still in a daze. I didn't really understand anything. All I knew was that the white was coming back, and it was taking over me.