The Insignia

Solis passed out soon after the insignia of the silver tiger finished appearing on his chest. Noir waited by his bedside, too worried to move.

Several hours later, Solis opened his eyes and looked straight into Noir's red-rimmed ones, swollen from crying.

Solis lifted his hand and patted the younger man's cheek. "Didn't I tell you not to cry?" he said softly.

Noir grabbed his hand with his own trembling ones. "You were in pain and I couldn't do anything to help you," he cried softly, tears pooling in his eyes yet again. "I couldn't do anything…" he repeated.

"Don't say that," Solis cajoled in a gentle voice. "You being here with me is already more fortune than I ever expected in my life," he told Noir. "With you, I can be happy. Isn't that what everyone wants?"

Noir hiccoughed. "How are you feeling now?" he asked instead.

Solis took stock of himself. "Not too bad, actually, given how much it hurt before," he said with a smile. "Did you do something to make me feel better?" he asked Noir.

The younger man shook his head diffidently. "I couldn't do anything except sit here and wait for you to wake up…" he murmured.

Solis frowned. "How long was I out?" he asked.

"Four hours," Noir replied.

"And you've been sitting here and shedding tears this entire time?" Solis demanded. "Did you at least get yourself dinner?"

Noir ignored his questions. "What happened to you?" he asked hoarsely.

"I don't really know," Solis murmured. He looked down at his chest. "I never really wanted to get a tattoo…but now I seem to have one," he sighed. "At least it's nice to look at…"

"You can't let anyone else see it!" Noir cried urgently.

Solis chuckled. "Jealous again, my little darling?" he asked, caressing Noir's hand.

Noir shook his head. "That's the insignia of my Master," he said. "It's the mark of a demi god."

Solis arched an eyebrow. "Are you telling me that I'm a demi god now?" he asked. "And why would I have your master's insignia?"

"I don't know," Noir murmured. "But…you could be my Master, who travelled through time and space like me. Or, you could be my Master's reincarnation – which means that he's already – already passed." Tears dripped down his face again. "Only one person can have this exact same insignia. If you were my Master's descendant, you would have a tiger insignia, but it would be at least a little different. This one…this one is the perfect copy of my Master's. There is absolutely no difference."

Solis frowned. "Some memories did pour into my head at the time. I can only remember a vague feeling now, though," he said. He tried to remember what he had seen, but immediately, a stabbing pain pierced through his head and he groaned out loud.

Noir immediately started checking him all over again.

Solis took several deep breaths and let Noir work his magic on him. He also deliberately avoided thinking about the alien memories that had invaded his head and were now causing him pain. They seemed to be locked, somehow, and it looked like retrieving those memories would be rather painful for Solis.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with you," Noir murmured. "But what is causing you so much pain? Where exactly does it hurt, Solis?"

Solis pointed at his chest. "It hurts here when I see you cry," he said seriously.

Noir opened his mouth to argue but Solis held up a hand. "I'm not being sappy or romantic when I say this. It really does hurt, as if someone is stabbing away at my heart with a knife," he said, and then, seeing Noir's crumbling expression, he added quickly, "And so, my dear Noir, I need you to show me your beautiful smile more and more often, all right?"

Noir nodded obediently, and then he frowned. "But you were clutching your head at the time – and also now. Why was your head hurting?" he demanded.

"Earlier, I think it was because these memories were pouring into my head. There is a lot of information there, so my brain was probably unable to process it," Solis speculated, and thought this sounded like a reasonable explanation. "And just now, I tried to check if I could remember any of the memories, and it hurt terribly. I think they may be locked, and I have no idea how to access them."

"There's no need for you to try to access them unnecessarily," Noir said quickly. "If something trickles in, you let me know immediately. If you feel the slightest discomfort, you also let me know immediately. We won't take even the slightest risk when it comes to your welfare."

Solis didn't reply for a while. "Noir, tell me this honestly," he finally said in a very quiet voice, so much so that Noir had to lean forward and strain his ears to hear him speak. "Don't you want your master to return to you? These memories – they are quite likely to be your master's, I think, and from the vague impression I got, I have this feeling that if I am able to open up these memories, your master will return to you."

Noir blinked. "Do you mean you'll be able to hear his voice in your head?" he asked. "Or he'll be able to manifest himself as a spectre?"

Solis shook his head. "I mean that he will be able to take over my body," he said.

Noir went very pale. "No," he said firmly. "You must not let that happen. My Master would never do something like that. My Master cares for me, so he would never harm the person I love, nor would he take away the person I love from me. If something ever tells you that it is my Master or his consciousness or his soul and wants you to surrender your body to it – you must absolutely not do so and you must tell me immediately. Because that won't be my Master – that would be an evil spirit!"