The Aurian Chronicles Chapter 17: Count me in

Lisa sat there as she studied Darkness. "I.... REALLY wish I knew all that a long time ago, Derek." She admitted. "And I wish I had known about Tommy a long time ago, Lisa." Said Darkness with a shrug. "BUT, we are flawed beings... I'm sorry this whole thing caused this rift." He admitted. 

Lisa nodded. "Well, then I'm in." She said with a nod, causing Silver and Darkness to raise a brow. "With whatever this stuff you're doing... I'm IN!" She added. Darkness shook his head. "Absolutely not! You are not working with-"

"Yes DEREK! I AM!" She said with a determined glare. "I'm not losing my brother to this bullcrap! I may draw a line at killing, but I am helpful in other ways! I can gather information! My powers are a lot more developed and keep me safer than you! AND, I have my engineering degree! I'm a lot better with technology than you or Silver, I want in on this!" She said as she sat fully up straight.

Darkness' eyes narrowed. "And what happens when Blood Angel strikes again, Lisa? Where were your powers when he-" But he was cut off by Lisa slapping him with a hand made of pure Light. "That happened because I didn't know my older brother was doing what he was doing! Do NOT go there!" She fired back.

Darkness rubbed his cheek. "Is this going to be so you can tell me I should be making music again? Because that song and dance is getting old... Why do you even keep pressing that anyway? You've been doing that since I got back from the Middle East." He said as he crossed his legs.

Lisa raised her left eyebrow. "Are you... KIDDING ME?! After that story? You even brought it up that you felt you should have had a band by now! You gave that up at the time over supporting a family, and I get that! But nothing is stopping you now! I just... want the big brother who sat me in his lap and played the guitar to cheer me up... Wrote that love song for Silver that he stayed up all night learning how to sing in Spanish... And even played with MOM!" She said as she began to breathe rapidly.

Darkness' eyes rose as she rattled moments from his past off. "I... Don't remember any of that." He admitted. "I guess I really put a lot of thoughts aside in my quest to further my Military career... Honestly, that just makes me more sad that it all went south." He added as he laughed bitterly. "But I'm going to let you know right now, I still am not comfortable about you joining us." He added.

Silver stepped forward. "I'm not either, but if she wants to, she doesn't have to get involved like I do." She said as Lyte nodded, but Silver held up a finger to her. "That said, you had a chance to defend yourself and got dealt with easily, young lady! So if you want to join, you'll be training with ME first!" She said as she let out her aura and showed off her muscles, causing both Lisa and Darkness to gulp.

Lisa nodded after a moment and shrugged. "Fine, but it's not Lisa anymore, I'll be the LYTE to your DARKNESS!" She said, causing Darkness to give her the thumbs down. "Christ and I thought it was dumb when my friends called me that... That is the corniest crap ever." He said with a laugh, one shared by Lyte, and eventually Silver as well.

"Fine then... Lyte, you want in? I'll see about having you work when you can on trial status... But also, you might get your wish on me working on music again as well... I feel my aura resonates best when working with it... which I guess is why Dad always agreed I study with Mom more... it's in our blood." He said with an affirmed nod.

Lyte's blue eyes lit up as she hugged him tightly. "YAYYYY! That makes me happy, big bro! I can get you a studio if you ever need time to yourself! And even people, and equipment, and-" Darkness just chuckled and rolled his eyes as he looked at Silver, who was hiding a giggle. But then he looked up and saw the spirit of the Composer, who smiled down at him with his arms crossed. 'I've made a deal with the proverbial Devil.' He thought to himself in a joking manner.

A day later, Lyte was out at the gym going through a hellish exercise program with Silver. "Silver, how long have we been running?!" She asked between pants. "Only a few miles... I can run over ten without breaking a sweat... if you think THIS is bad, wait until the self-defense classes start!" Answered Silver with a wide grin. Lyte grunted and tried to focus 'This is all for big bro' she told herself while she tried to keep up with Silver.

Derek stared at the mirror. His aura was powered down, and he had gone through a full bottle of Bourbon and a few painkillers. The sight of ghostly figures were looking back at him. He could see that his dead friends were both glaring at him.

Derek rubbed the spot where he shot himself a few years ago and sighed. "Sorry boys... But I can't move on to the future... Without letting go of my past..." He said as he stuck his fingers into his head. Derek winced in pain as he grabbed hold of the slug in his head, trying to ignore the blood leaking out. "FUCK!" He screamed as his fingers pulled the bullet hard.

As he inched the bullet out of his head, He could swear he saw Truck and Golem saluting him back and fading away as the bullet was now fully removed from his head. "Goodbye, my friends... While I'll never forget you... I will never let myself be shackled like this again. I'll make sure I get Xaldin back somehow while I'm at it." He promised while he went to treat his head injury, the bullet from his head was lying on the table in a pool of blood.

The Aurian Chronicles Chapter Chapter 16 part 3: All that is left is Darkness

 "Silver, this is stupid! Why am I doing all this?"  Asked Derek as he walked into a building with Silver. It read "Pure Mind Solutions" In the main lobby and showed videos of people talking about how the company helped them overcome their problems with their families. There was also a beautiful water display with a light-up brain and fountains of water spraying against it.

Silver narrowed her eyes at Derek. She was in a teal T-shirt and designer blue jeans as she looked at him. "What other choice do we have? The therapy hasn't been helping you, and I can tell you right now the increased DRINKING hasn't helped you either... All you do is sob into your drink and blame yourself... Look in the mirror, do you think Xaldin would want this kind of life for you?" She challenged.

Derek looked in the mirror; his eyes had begun to sag from too many sleepless nights. His skin was discolored due to both too much and not enough sunlight. Even his wardrobe suffered; all he wore were tattered jeans and an army green jacket with a tank top underneath. his black boots were worn out and needed to be replaced.

"I guess, if it works... I could stand to fix myself?" He admitted. Silver just kissed him and nodded. "Don't worry, Derek. I'll be with you every step of the way!" She told him as they walked in to meet the doctor. A russian woman smiled sweetly at them as she stood up. Derek thought her black leather outfit looked like something out of a dominatrix shop, and the white lab coat over it all wasn't helping her case at all.

"Good afternoon! I'm Doctor Saryn Capryse! Your recent therapist tells me they were one of many doctors unable to help you adapt to society and move on! And that you might be able to help test my new product! NNI!" She said as she looked Derek in the eyes, causing him to feel like a piece of meat left out for hungry wolves.

"Yes, NNI... Or, 'Neural Nirvana Injection' Is a drug I've developed to help take natural dopamine generated from the body, and use it to help heal the negative patterns of the brain in troubled areas! My goal is to help struggling PTSD survivors get that extra push to conquer their mental illness and adjust back into society!" she said while walking them to her lab.

Silver listened patiently and smiled as Derek nervously took off his Jacket. "So if I do this... I can be normal?" he asked. Saryn blew a raspberry at his words. "There is no such thing as Normal, Mr. Sonata. If this works, the goal is to fix your mental health, nothing more, nothing less!" She told him as a bunch of doctors had gathered while she took a syringe out.

"Welcome, Mr. Sonata... to your new life!" Saryn said as she injected Derek with a purple vial of liquid. Derek winced a bit at the needle as he instantly began to feel calm. His smile began to grow wide as his eyes narrowed. Derek now saw himself on the battlefield as a soldier without a weapon and grinned as he grabbed one soldier and broke his neck.

"THIS IS WHO I AM! THIS IS WHERE I BELONG!" He said as he quickly tore through the soldiers. Derek screamed happily as he punched multiple soldiers in the face until they bled and bashed their skulls into the floor. Finally, he advanced on the last one and lifted them by the throat.

Derek's triumphant smile slowly began to wear off as his vision returned to normal. The battlefield he thought he was on turned into a now destroyed lab room, most of the doctors were dead by his hand, and to his horror, he had Silver by the neck, gasping for air.

"Silver!" He screamed as he dropped her, leaving her to cough and take in deep breaths of air. He began to see himself murdering innocent people and gleefully trying to finish off with his wife. Tears began to flow from his eyes as he sprinted off. "DEREK! WAIT! WE CAN-" Screamed silver, but Derek was already gone.

Derek cried out in frustration as he punched a hole in a back alley brick wall, mangling his own left hand. "HOW COULD I DO THAT!? MY OWN WIFE!! ALL THOSE PEOPLE!" He said as he sobbed. "All those people... I'm sorry." He said as he pulled out a handgun and pointed it at his left temple. "I'm sorry." He said one final time before firing into his own head. leaving a spray of blood against the brick wall.

'My hand has been forced... There is more to be done' Said a voice as Derek's body glowed purple, healing his head as black tendrils grew from his back. "Ah, my head... what the-?" He asked as he saw his tendrils. "No fucking way! Is this Aura?! I HAVE AURA?! THIS IS AWESOME! I gotta show Silver!" He said as he took off.

Silver was a nervous wreck as she tried calling out to find Derek; she even had Lisa looking for him in the local bars. Derek ran in happily with now purple hair, "SILVER LOOK!" He said as he showed his black tendrils. Silver gasped in shock, "Derek! There you are... the Aura is nice, but I'm more just glad you are okay! Where did you go?" She asked as she kissed his cheeks rapidly.

Derek smiled and looked at her. "I felt bad because of what happened, and I shot myself in the head! But with this, I feel better! Like all my thoughts are clear and-!" But he stopped when Silver dropped the phone. Her breathing was ragged, and tears were forming in her eyes.

"You... You tried to kill yourself?" She asked in a panic. Derek shrugged, "Who cares about that now? If I had known it would lead to this, I would have tried it a long time ago!" He said. The thought of what he just said struck him at around the same time Silver did as she punched him hard enough in the jaw that his back slammed into the wall, leaving a hole. 

"YOU SELFISH BASTARD! WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I LOST YOU?! WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO LISA!? WHAT WOULD...? What would...?" Silver began to yell before she finally buried her face into Derek's chest and began to sob. For the first time since she was a child, Silver wasn't her normal beautiful self. She was a mess.

Derek hugged her close and rubbed her back. "I know... I'm sorry, Silver... I fucked up badly this time... Drugs aren't going to help me... Neither is the bottle... I'll try to find something that takes my mind off things... Maybe a job... I don't ever want to make you feel like this again." He promised. Silver just nodded as she continued crying into his chest.

A couple of months had passed, and it was proving to be easier said than done to find a job. All of Derek's military experience was overshadowed by his dishonorable discharge and the reason for it. Acting on a bit of advice he had overheard from a bar, he had found his way into an arranged meeting with some rich guy who needed security work. 

Derek walked into a lovely two-story mansion, and found himself sitting in the office of a man in a brown suit with a golden vest and brown tie. he was wearing a bowler hat and happily sipping a thermos of coffee. "Well, Mr. Sonata, I've read your training, all looks good... And you even admitted to some of your mistakes in the past... I think I can use a man of your talents! Call me Tony!" he said as he shook Derek's hand.

"Uh, right.. So what am I guarding?" Asked Derek. Mr. Capryse just chuckled and shook his head. "Oh no no NO! None of that... I'll be introducing you to the fun and exciting world of contract killing!" he explained with a gleeful smile.

Derek's eyes widened. He was going to start to protest, but the thought of all those failed interviews was still fresh in his mind. "I'd... Be happy to get started." He finally relented as he signed every paper that was sitting in front of him.

"EXCELLENT! Now, while on the job, I'll be needing you to adopt a new alias. You got a name for yourself?" Asked Mr. Capryse. Derek closed his eyes and thought really hard, but all of his thoughts kept drifting off to drinking with the friends he lost in the Army. "My name... Is Darkness." He said with determination.

"Darkness, eh? Ooh, that's edgy and mysterious! Well, welcome aboard, Darkness! Your first kill is a man who strangled the contractor's wife, he lurks around the local mall! There's a pay bonus if you have it done within the week!" Said Mr. Capryse Cheerfully.

Darkness sighed and nodded. "Whatever, consider it done." He said while walking through the hallway. He stopped as he looked in the mirror. He had to admit, he was looking a lot better with the updated wardrobe Silver had made for him. He was sporting a black jacket, black cotton pants, a red shirt, and brand-new black boots. "Goodbye, Derek Sonata... Hello Darkness..." He said as he went out to start his new life.