YA: I do not own Black Haze

Into the Eternal Darkness,

Into Fire and into Ice.

-Dante Alighieri

Rood shifted slightly slowly opening his eyes from what seemed like a restless sleep, taking in his surroundings, vaguely wondering where he was. He sighed letting the darkness shift around him to cover his presence from where he was laying against a large stone as he pondered what had woken him.

The dark grey clouds floated above slowly starting to cover the moon's light, trees were littered around him, towering over his much smaller form and Rood took a deep breath inhaling the scent of uncut grass and cool night air. He momentarily paused as long black hair shifted into view. Before he could register that the long hair was, in fact, his own, a burning light came into view.

A man walking amongst floating lights came into view in the distance, his keen eyes could just barely make out the other's features. The man had deep, blood-like, red hair and pale skin only a few shades tanner than his own, he was dressed in fine clothes and walked with a kind of savage grace that drew the black haired magician to the man. What attracted him most, however, was the wild creature of fire's eyes that burned with an intense swirl of emotions and power that left him breathless.

"You look like you could set the world ablaze by gaze alone." Rood could feel himself saying eyes locked with the fiery man in front of him, taking note of the other's lean but no less formidable form, "What's your name?" he found himself questioning.

The man turned to him and smirked, all confidence and pride that seemed to roll off of him in waves, he opened his mouth to speak, "My name is..."

The final word was blurred into what seemed to be more static than any type of language, "And yours?" he continued.

The black haired magician opened his mouth to respond however a foreign name left his lips and the man attacked grinning.

Rood could feel a small smile beginning to form on his own face before he raised up a hand to block.

Rood sat up straight in his bed a startled gasp escaping from his mouth as he blinked slowly.

"A dream..." he muttered, "Just a dream... right?" Glancing at his surroundings he was where he was when he went to sleep.

Shaking his head Rood sat up putting on some casual clothes, it was time to research what the mysterious [Magic Circle] was.

At a small crowded cafe outside of Opion, Rood frowned flipping through the pages of the book.

'It's about what I had expected. I guess it would be hard to find records of demon summoning in regular data.'

Nothing even closely matched the type of [Magic Circle] he had seen at the auction house. The mere memory of the embarrassing mission made Rood groan.

A young boy with grass green hair and eyes approached from where he was sitting "Ya~ Here's the drink you ordered!~ It's been a while brother Rood!"

"Ben." Rood greeted reaching out for his drink.

"Yep!~~," The green haired boy said cheerfully, "What's with all the books? Are you studying for something?" He asked glancing down at one of the books that Rood had opened.

"Ek–! Looks hard. Makes me dizzy just looking at it... Why are you reading something like this?" Ben asked looking towards the older male.

Rood paused "I'm curious about something." he stated. Examining the curious boy and pondering how much he could give away.

Ben blinked amazed "Woah! I didn't know but Brother must be really smart!"

Rood laughed slightly ruffling the boy's hair "You just found out?" he asked.

The blonde gave the boy another smile. Ben's whole face suddenly lit up "Did you hear about the Black Magician's accomplishment?" The statement made the fair-haired boy pause tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"I heard thieves tried stealing a really expensive magic item from an auction house but the Black Magician appeared an stopped them from stealing it and he also stopped a rampaging red devil from stealing it too! Isn't he cool?!" Ben cheered.

Rood sweatdropped, "Impossible." he said. The real situation had been more complicated than that.

The 'Rampaging Red Devil's' (as it had been so eloquently put) burning gaze flashed into his mind and he couldn't stop a small shiver from racking down his spine. Remembering the strange sense of excitement he had felt upon first meeting the explosive magician.

Ben, however, was oblivious as he continued to rant about his hero. "...I hope my sister can become a strong magician like him," he muttered tentatively.

"Sister?" Rood asked cheerfully, hoping to change the subject. "Is she pretty?" he asked.

The question seemed to cheer Ben up enough because the younger of the two broke into a grin, "Yep!~~ She just got accepted into Helios."

The blonde blinked surprised "As in Helios, the school?"

"Mhmm" Pride was practically radiating off the boy, "The place that only amazing people can go. I've been writing letters but Mom said not to send them because it will distract her from her studies."

Rood frowned opening his mouth to say something but before he could he was cut off by Ben's mother calling for him. "Sorry, I've got to go."

After watching Ben walk away blue eyes closed as he expanded his senses to hear what the other people in the cafe were saying. The rumors were ridiculous and far from noteworthy but one thing kept appearing, the only one who had taken the fall was the nameless thief.

What had his name been again? Oh well, it wasn't important.

A sigh left his lips 'There was no mention of the demons. Why would the Tower cover it up? Is there something wrong with the barrier?' Although concerning, Rood deciding to continue with his previous line of thought 'I did record a magic circle I saw back then but can I really find a lead with just this?' He asked himself, 'First let's go see Master.'

Rood walked down the busy street staring at the paper in his hand as if it could solve itself at any moment. He was so absorbed in the paper that he didn't notice that someone was angrily walking in the direction he was heading.

Shicmuon growled stalking forward ignoring the human-dog that had been yelling after him, first he had missed the chance to finally find that damn Blackie, then he had that goddamn dream. He stopped completely, shuddering slightly as he recalled it.

Shicmuon could feel his legs stalking forward, his mind sharp and focused along with the sense of being in search of someone. The redhead could feel himself turn to spot a shadow-like figure sitting in an even darker place wearing pitch black robes, the figure was a young man graced with pale alabaster skin and pitch black hair that seemed to mold into the darkness, only hauntingly familiar glowing sapphire eyes seemed recognizable as they continued to gaze at him intensely.

A low, smooth but gentle voice left the man, "You look like you would like you could set the world on fire by gaze alone." The figure muttered eyes meeting him with little emotion.

For some reason that irked Shicmuon. The dark haired figure reminded him of another Black haired blue-eyed magician. It drove him absolutely mad that he couldn't get a reaction.

The man seemed to be pondering something, "What is your name?" He asked.

The cold blue eyes that now held a spark of interest were still locked onto his figure and Shicumon couldn't help but feel pride swell inside him over that he had captured the dispassionate man's attention, he smirked.

"My name is..." His voice didn't say his name instead it came out hazy and soundless as if he had forgotten what it was. "And yours?" It was only natural he would want the name of who he was fighting.

The man embraced amongst the shadows opened his mouth murmuring his name. Shicumon's hearing seemed to have once again failed him.

Instead of the frown that Shicmuon had wanted to make he felt his lips curve upward into an excited grin before he attacked.

At the moment that his opponent had raised to block Van, the stupid mutt had woken him up and the red-haired magician had, in his sleep hazed confusion attacked the loyal dog much to the man's annoyed surprise.

Shicmuon had been so irked from being awakened from the dream that he had stormed out of where he was resting and came into the situation he was in now.

Completely lost with no idea where he was.

Shicmuon paused as he felt something small bump into him, looking down he found a young blond haired teenager slowly blinking up at him. Rood paused momentarily forgetting to apologize for bumping into the older man. His breath seemed to leave him as he glanced up at the taller male, he was dressed in a fairly expensive outfit, black slacks and a black dress shirt along with a pure spotless white jacket, he had dark auburn hair that seemed to be tinted red and fairly sharp features.

However what had caught Rood's attention the most were his eyes, blue and pale, the wrong color something told him, the hair and the eyes should have been a beautiful shade of blood red, but the eyes were oh so full of emotion, a wave of familiarity crashed over him as his grip on the paper slackened letting it fall to the ground.

"Why do you look like you wish to set the world ablaze by gaze alone?" Rood could feel himself asking, it was something that had been bothering him since he had first seen the man in his dream and now there was someone who's gaze was exactly like the burning man's.

Shicmuon could feel a shudder pass through him at the familiar words his eyes still locked with the younger male's, a strong wind blew past them causing the paper that Rood had dropped to blow away.

The blond let out a startled gasp, quickly muttering an apology before taking off after the paper. Shicmuon followed, he was lost although his pride would not let him admit it, he had nothing to lose by following the strangely familiar blond. Pondering where he could have seen him he had ignored the conversation that had been going on with the person he was following and the un-noteworthy magician.

It wasn't until one of the men had grabbed the boy's shirt that he had begun to pay attention instead of quivering in fear the boy smiled at them calmly saying "Let go. You f*****."

It seemed to enrage the man to where he had tried attacking to attack the other. Shicmuon wondered if he should interfere. The sapphire blue-eyed boy, the same color had his own and yet so different, dispassionately twisted his attacker's arm around. When the other two tried to attack him he lazily kicked one out of the way before blocking the other's attack and throwing them back. Picking up the piece of paper he glanced up at Shicumon surprised as if just noticing his presence.

"You..." The unnamed magician growled, "You're not a normal kid!"

'Well obviously.' Shicmuon thought 'No normal kid could defeat three grown men so easily.'

"But you picked the wrong guy to mess with." He continued.

Rood paused 'Fighting a magician would be troublesome. So...' He glanced at the man he had bumped into running forward and grabbing his hand "We should run." he stated out loud pulling the burning-eyed stranger along with him.

Shicmuon followed along looking interested an explosion erupted behind them, for once not his fault, the two ran onto a platform.

Rood turned to face their attacker before spinning back around and jumping off of the platform and towards the ground a good fifty feet below. The grip the blonde had dragged him along. An explosion once again erupted behind them, Rood glanced down spotting the carriage below eyes widening, the two landed with a thump.

Rood laughed awkwardly as all the guards eyed them "What a sturdy carriage." He stated before hopping off the roof.

Shicmuon followed out of pure curiosity watching as a sword was held against Rood's neck, "Hold. Do you realize who's carriage that you just jumped on."

Shicmuon was about to snap at the man but Rood interfered "No, I do not but I'm sorry." He bowed slightly "...A noble must be riding in there. It was an inevitable situation. I sincerely apologize for surprising you by jumping on the carriage. I'll make sure nothing like this ever happens again."

During the whole conversation, the blue-haired guard had begun to flinch at the end of each sentence as if it physically caused him pain. Shicmuon couldn't help but want to try.

"Y-Yeah..." The blue haired guard muttered lamely.

"Thank you." Rood said cheerfully before whirling around and running off, leaving a stunned guard behind.

From behind the corner in a dark alleyway entrance just far enough to be obstructed from anyone's view Rood glanced at the group 'That man... He's quite skilled. A noble... how unlucky am I lately? It's a good thing nothing happened.' he thought.

"Impressive." Shicmuon stated from behind Rood.

The blond jumped 'I forgot he was here!' he screamed in his head. The man moved forward backing Rood into a wall.

"Because I don't want to live in the cold," Shicmuon stated.

Rood momentarily forgot how to breathe because that voice sounded exactly like the red-haired stranger that had spoken to him in his dream. It took a moment to realize that the other was answering his earlier question.

"Ah..." Rood murmured "What's your name?" he asked slightly desperate, unintentionally lowering his tone into a slightly husky one, letting go of the man's hand and clutching the other's shirt desperately. A feeling of unfiltered need swimming through his veins,

Shicmuon shuddered at the low tone that came from the other. "Shicmuon and yours?" he asked a sense of deja vu setting in. Racking his gaze up an down the other's form in single-minded intensity.

"Rood, Rood Chrishi." he responded blinking at the unawakened form of the 'Rampaging Red Devil' Shicmuon in equal fascination.

White tinted red and blackish-blue mana began to surround the both of them, mixing together in a whirlpool of colors. Adding into the swirl of electricity that was beginning to silently crackle in the air. Tension built between the two both unsure of what they should do next.

Blue eyes locked with each other and before either was aware of what they were doing Shicmuon had grabbed the blond by his waist and pinned Rood against the alley wall. Rood's body seemed to move on its own as he wrapped his legs around the other's waist and tilted his head back slightly exposing his neck resting his head against the cold brick wall.

Shicumon gave a low growl, satisfaction swimming through his blood at the action. Pressing the other even closer against the wall using his body and leaning down to reach the pale exposed skin. He lightly pressed his lips against the smaller male's shirt collar before nudging it down and biting harshly, breaking his skin, Rood gasped back arching. Their mana flared around them curling around, Shicmuon's magic curling around the smaller magician's leg like a snake before traveling up the blonde's waist before sinking into the still bleeding wound.

Shicmuon gave a low purr, a sound he was previously unaware he could make, as he began pressing soft butterfly kisses against the mark using his tongue to lap up the excess blood. Rood shivered face flushed as he did the same by leaning in and biting just hard enough to break skin only for his magic to do the same as the taller man's.

The mana mixed even further swirling around them and making the all-consuming heat surrounding them all the worse. Their senses settling into a humming fuzz of want. The redhead slowly bucked his hips trying to get impossibly close to the other as he grabbed the blond hair making the other tilt his head to the side so he could receive better access.

Rood shook, pulling away from Shicmuon's neck to give a low moan, his mind began to fog over slightly as the other began to lap at the blood from where he had marked the smaller male. He tugged sharply on red hair briefly wondering when his hand had been moved there. Melancholy filled his mind as tears welled in his eyes.

The redhead pulled back from where he was marking the other's neck, looking at the dark bluish-red mark with satisfaction, he noted that his magic had some time in-between the marking caused him to awaken. Rood was the same, a steady thrum of mana echoed through his body as his magic surrounded him, by the time it was done he was in his [Blow] form and he couldn't bring himself to care.

Tears were freely flowing from his glowing sapphire eyes and the fiery male pulled back just long to kiss either of Rood's flushed cheeks, gently wiping away the water leaking from his eyes. Feeling the blonde relax Shicmuon continued

Shuddering as a deliriously warm hand moved beneath his shirt, to intoxicated by the older's actions to be embarrassed. In a moment of clarity, he pulled back slightly. "Shic-ahh!...-muon." He breathed out not quite aware of what he was asking for.

Shicmuon seemed to understand though as he pulled back, nuzzling his neck before connecting his lips to Rood's in a warm soft kiss. Rood responded by opening his mouth to allow the other access completely content with letting the other take control. The redhead man took his time to explore but that didn't take away from the sudden warmth that he seemed to be radiating.

When they finally parted a small keen left Rood's lips as the warm sensation he had gotten from kissing Shicumon slowly began to fade, a small string of saliva connected their mouths, strangely satisfied at kissing the familiar person the now black haired magician nuzzled the other's neck in the place where he had bitten.

"Mate." Rood could hear himself purr out.

Shicmuon couldn't help but be pleased when he heard this. "Mate." He returned nuzzling the other's neck as a warm feeling washed over him.

The word seemed to snap the two magicians out of their mana induced delirium a stunned feeling washed over the two as they came down from their own personal high as they stared at each other in a stupor.

The Black Magician reluctantly let his legs leave the Association's Magician waist and shakily settled them on the ground. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity the mana slowly settling down temporarily content, leaving only a small tingling feeling where they had marked each other as a sign that it had ever been there in the first place.

They never once broke eye contact.

Shicmuon was the first to speak, "What exactly was that?" he breathed out stepping back.

Rood's legs shook he slowly slid down from his place against the wall desperately trying to catch his breath, his face was still flushed from their previous actions, "I don't know." he whispered.

The best thing you can ever have is a peace of mind,

it is a basking fire to keep a cold heart in warmth,

and a fortified confidence to be proud of.

- Michael Bassey Johnson