Gems of Sin

[Donovyn Mikara Gerra]

Well, thought I might post the fanfic here. It's also up on YCM

Spoiler: Chapter 1 (hover to show)

   Crystal walked into the chamber. She didn't know why she was there, or how she had gotten there, just that she was there. It didn't matter why anymore, she was already there. She looked around the chamber. There were beutiful, ornate columns that were designed to look like vines wrapping around other vines stretching from the floor to the ceiling. There were six in all, spread around the room.
   There were paintings on the wall. She looked around at the beutiful landscapes, then she noticed the right-hand wall. This one contained portraits of people. Almost all of whom she had not recognized. However, there was one she did recognize, if only because she had thought it was actually an odd mirror. It would have been odd, because it showed the front view, while she was looking with a turned head, her body facing front. Then the frame was crafted of gold, with curved edges stretching out, like the horns of a ram. Quite a feat for a simple mirror, however strange.
   However, thats not what this was. It was, in fact, a painting, nearly 5000 years old, in fact, yet the subject very strongly resembled herself. The blue kimono the subject wore very closely resembled Crystal's own. It was a light shade, with a soft shade of gold on the sash. The difference was that Crystal's kimono had a Cherry Blossom print in a slightly darker shade of blue on it.
   The dark hair and amber eyes of the subject reminded Crystal of herself. Mostly because they were what Crystal herself posessed. The delicate features and fit physique on the canvas and Crystal's own matched perfectly. She walked over to the painting, closed her eyes, and shook her head to shake the sensation she was dreaming out of her head. Somehow, it just didn't seem possible that this was real. Yet the feel of the canvas beneath her fingers was definitely real.
   "You aren't dreaming," a low, silk-smooth, male voice said behind her as she slapped herself in a last-ditch effort to wake up. "All of this is real," the man said, walking toward her as she turned around. He looked at the figure in the painting, smiling, "Best I ever had." Crystal didn't ask, she didn't need to, the expression on her face said it all. "Guardian, Crystal, guardian." Again, she didn't ask. He smiled, and walked over to the largest of the landscapes. A forest, it appeared ancient, filled with tall Oaks, Maples, and Ash trees.
   He effortlessly removed the painting from the wall, revealing a large safe. A combination safe. His twists and turns of the knob were fast as lightning. She didn't know how many times he'd turned the knob, but he opened the door as effortlessly as he removed the painting. She had no idea just how heavy they were, but the paining, with its massive size and ornate frame must have been heavy, and the six-inch thick safe door can't have been much lighter. In the safe, there were only seven gem stones, which could have fit on a ring, or in a necklace.