Warnings: flyin' fish and magic stuff, language. And implied mildly twincest-y stuff. Along with the mentioning of a staff.

Characters/Pairings: KuroFai, later SyaoYuui and SakuSyao

Notes: Written for my "Black & White" project. The story is mainly based on Final Fantasy: the four heroes of light. Now, turning the very simple battle system of this lovely Nintendo DS Game into sensible prose was a nightmare on its own, so don't expect it to be too close to the game. Oh yeah, well, and prepositions are my nemesis. If you find grammar mistakes, tell me!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, they belong to CLAMP. I just get to play with them.

1

Black & White

"I don't like this", Yuui said for the seventh time since he and Fai had been shipped to the town of Spirit by the CMIU – the Clover Magick Investigation Unit. Spirit was a lovely place which had grown at the shore of the Southern Sea, and actually, there was not much not to like about it. The mayor was kind, the little houses as beautiful as one would expect from Legend's center of art and culture and the people lived in peace with the pirates that sailed their seas.

It were the pirates that the elder crown prince of Valeria had bonded with immediately, sharing their love for a good, strong rum and that one night when Fai was stepping out of the tavern, his eyes so very bright, Yuui knew something was up.

And when his brother had dragged him to go shopping for adventuring supplies such as new robes and glistening blue ice shields he had started to assume the worst. And had had every right to do so.

"Aw, don't be such a killjoy, Yuui." Fai chirped and dodged when a huge air ray came flying towards him. "It's fun!"

Yuui stabbed the beast with his flame dagger and it crashed to the ground, flopping and half charred. Fun! Sitting at the harbor and listening to the street musicians, watching kids play and chase after seagulls; that was fun. Stepping into a weird luminescent whirlpool that appeared only in the nighttime, which then lead into a maze with flying monster fishes was not. The monsters were not really a thread for the infamous twin princes of Valeria, though – magic had been strong in their veins ever since they were little kids and had become stronger still when they grew up. Fai had chosen the path of a black mage while Yuui, always the one with the supporting role, had become a white mage, a healer. The abilities of the twins were complementing each other and as long as they were together nothing could harm them. But that didn't change the uneasy feeling that had taken hold of the blonde.

"Mind your steps there", Yuui said, nodding his head at a puddle of a green viscous liquid on the soft ground. Bones of small animals that had been unfortunate enough to get trapped here were floating in the goo and the sharp stench of chlorine was prominent there, making the smell of their whereabouts even more vile. The prince had a notion that the liquid was some sort of acid and he didn't want to risk his brother's feet to find out if he was right. More disturbing than the puddles were the walls, though; soft and raw and sickly pink, they looked almost organic – he dared not to touch them as well.

If Fai cared, he pretended not to. His enthusiasm was unhindered yet, not even the disgusting smell of rotting fish and kelp which grew stronger the farther they went could wipe the genuine smile off his face. "We're almost there. I can feel it."

"I really hope this treasure is worth it!" Yuui mumbled. He was bitching, he knew he was, but all their walking and pulling weird meaty levers to open up gates which lead to more pink hallways had earned them nothing more than a few nasty bites from Ichtons – hovering, piranha like fish monsters – and weapons and clothings that must have been left behind by previous adventurers. Fai had found a bow and some herbs and picked the items up, deaf to Yuui's protest. Meanwhile Yuui had come across a treasure chest which had tried to eat him and if it hadn't been for one of his brothers sharp Aero spells... he didn't want to think of it. He now wore a stream cape over his white cloak and had a sword strapped to his waist; they had retrieved both from the innards of the vicious chest. Yuui could feel electricity buzzing through the steel, a special kind of elementary magic that worked within the weapon.

Another hallway, another monster, another Fire spell cast by Fai.

Yuui had given up counting their foes. The monster encounters had become more of a nuisance during the last hour and sometimes Yuui just stood there, watching how his brother dodged and swirled without even once risking to lose his black top hat, the status symbol that all the black mages wore.

The hallway took a turn to the left and lead to a semi-round room with a single little pond of water – real water, not the gooey green stuff – and in the middle of the pond, there was another treasure chest. A bigger one. (Yuui took a minute to take off his white hood and thank the gods that this one had no teeth.) The room was a dead end; their little midnight excursion was over, for the better or for the worse.

Fai shouted out with glee and was about to claim the price for their troublesome journey, when...

SPLASH!

Water was shooting up from the pond in a fountain, as the ugliest mermaid the twins had ever seen darted out. Except it wasn't a mermaid – it only had a tail like one. And pointy ears, a scaly greenish blue skin and a goatee to go along with it.

„GREED SHALL BE PUNISHED!" The thing cried out.

Yuui shot a nervous glance to Fai, who was smiling brightly back at him. „A sea devil", the black mage exclaimed, excited and not in the least worried. „Wow, I always thought they were a myth! Hey, Yuui, remember the days when Papa used to read bedtime stories for us? Wasn't there a story about a sea devil as well?"

The sea devil cleared his throat and stared menacingly down on them. "You mere mortals dare to enter my realm, longing for my treasures and still refuse to be afraid? I will teach you to respect the power of the duke of the Southern Sea!"

That was when the sea devil attacked.

But Fai was quicker.

Fai was always quicker. Smile never faltering, he kept the beast with a strong gale at bay. Yuui closed his eyes and raised his shield, feet shifting farther apart for a more balanced stance. For a moment he just stood there and listened to the familiar whistling of Fai's wind spells – then he ran towards their foe. He relied on his ears to duck under the Aero and, opening his eyes again - took a swing at the beast's tail. The blade of the flame dagger turned hot red as it touched the scales, yet managed to cause only a few blisters.

The whistling at his back turned into a wild shrieking as Fai was using his Mojo to focus the spell until it reached the force of a full-grown Aerora; whacking the devil against the ceiling of the room.

Yuui used the time to return to his brother's side and, as he did so, grabbed Fai's hand. The elder twin had turned a bit pale and small droplets of sweat were breaking out on his forehead. Yuui sent a quick warm rush of Cure though his brother's veins to restore his powers.

Suddenly, the ground shook.

Water was rising and, next thing he knew, a tidal wave was sweeping him off his feet.

Salt stung in his eyes. He couldn't breathe, his soaking robe dragging him down, but the shield in his hand emitted a soft glow that made him feel warm.

The wave ebbed away and his body met the ground. Which felt like raw chicken meat to the touch. The man gagged and coughed, as he tried to come to his feet.

He was-

He was.

That was obvious, but when his mind tried to reach out for memory or knowledge beyond the fact of his own existence, everything went black.

Disgusting pink floor, awful smell of fish. He hated fish. Monster at his back, stranger to his left, coming at him, shaking him. There was an urgency in that man's blue eyes that made him panic. He knew that man, he knew he did but that didn't make the other less dangerous. He tried to push the attacker aside.

The monster let out a laughter like a sheep.

Sheep. Sheep were Valeria's most dear treasure. Treasure... what he had come here for. From Valeria. Valeria was home, he faintly remembered, no strange men there that wanted to-

The strange men slapped him right into his face and Yuui's confused mind cleared up.

"Fai," He said and Fai started to tear up and babble nonsense, well actually he would, if there was a sound coming out of his brother's mouth. Fai was mute. If the situation hadn't been so terrifying, the younger prince would have laughed because how often in his life hat he wanted to know a spell to make Fai silent (especially that one year when Fai had been dating this boy from the Moon folk and could not stop be discreet about things that no one wanted to hear) and now his wish was fulfilled at the worst time possible. A mute person could cast no spells.

There must have been something in the water; a kind of magic that had caused Fai's silence and Yuui's previous confusion.

Yuui wrapped his arms around Fai. He was the white mage, the healer, the supporter. He would protect his brother with his body if necessary, until the effects of the spell wore off. Staring daggers at their opponent (who seemed to rely more on tricks that sheer attack force, for he was still floating in the air, at a safe distance from the magical twins), he whispered soothing words in Fai's ears.

Yuui had lost his dagger to the wave and Fai's hat was gone, as well as his magical staff. Well, he didn't need the staff to do magic, it was just a tool to focus a spell, much like the Mojo technique. but-

Then, an idea struck Yuui.

Unfortunately, the sea devil had come to the conclusion that the not-silenced twin was not going to be a threat and just happened to summon a trident from the depths of his pond.

Yuui nuzzled his brother's ear, wet locks tickling him, and whispered: "Fai, you remember that one time, when you got poisoned?"

He could feel the other body shift in his grip and his brother's back straighten.

"I'm going to do that again. But you'll have to-" He lead Fai's hand to the hilt of the bolt sword still strapped to his hip and the black mage's fingers gripped it tight without hesitation.

Before he knew what happened, his brother was straddling him, a warm, heavy but familiar weight and their eyes locked. Then, as the sea-devil made a leap, their lips met.

Yuui would like to pretend that it was an innocent kiss they shared, but that would be a blatant lie and is was not how it worked. It was messy and they clung to each other desperately, because Yuui did the best he could to suck the vile spell out of his brother's body. The way Fai's tongue was teasing his own was not helping him concentrate either and but he knew that his doing worked, because he could not hear the moan that must have escaped his lips.

But he did not forget himself. His eyes flickered back to their opponent and Fai rolled off his body with a swift movement, drawing the bolt sword in the progress. Yuui raised his shield to block the attack and with a nasty crack, the trident's spikes were buried in the shining material, which was half ice and half metal. At the impact his hand went numb, then his tingling nerves provided him with pulses of white-hot pain.

He would have screamed if he could.

The sea devil wailed in anger and prepared for a second strike, but his weapon was stuck in the shield, so he tried to shake it off.

Fai stood, raising the sword above his head and muttering a few Ancient words under his spell. Runes were formed in mid-air, dancing around Fai and illuminating his pale skin, his black coat.

Runes turned into flames, swirling and hungry, settling on the blade. Then he aimed at their foe and, using one word of power (which was strange to the mortal ears and could therefore not be understood), called out to the sword to release its power.

The sea devil was struck with lightning and fire until he was no more that a mass of twitching and charred limbs, smelling almost appetizingly of fried fish. Yuui's stomach turned.

"Well," Fai said, panting but very cheerful. "That wasn't so bad."

"NOT SO BAD?" Yuui flinched as he heard his own voice boom. He hadn't considered that the effect of the silencing curse might wear off so quickly after the death of its caster. "We almost got killed If I hadn't-!" He broke off, and his face turned as pink as the walls. He stared at his throbbing hand.

"Oh, but if my sweet baby brother hadn't been so kind to heal me, I would have used the echo herbs I've found earlier."

Echo herbs. The antidote for-

So that was what Fai had picked up from the ground!

The eyes of the younger twin widened. "You-"

His face turned from pink to an alarming shade of red and he was trembling. "You... COMPLETE ASS!"

"But Yuui..."

"Don't. You will not address me for at least the next 24 hours. You will not poke or otherwise touch me or sneak into my bed, no matter how bad your dreams are and how alone you feel. For the next twenty-four hours you are not my brother and therefore you can take your fucking treasure chest and shove it up where the sun doesn't shine."

Fai whined something about Yuui being scary and unfair but the white mage didn't care. All he wanted was to be home, in dry clothes and with a hand that did not feel squashed like an elephant has used it as a seat. He should see a physician about that.

Fai's pleading eyes followed him as he stomped out of the room but Yuui didn't look back. Because if he had, he might feel a little bit sorry for being so harsh and forget that being harsh was necessary if he wanted to teach his brother that toying with other people's feeling was unacceptable.

The older prince crossed his arms before his chest and pouted. Fai thought that Yuui could be a little more grateful, after all he had just bolt-roasted a monster and saved their lives, so how cool was that? Fai decided that his brother needed to get laid. Soon, preferably – then Yuui would stop behaving so cranky when he got stressed. Which meant, that the elder's matchmaker skills were needed. But, well.

First things first. His top hat had been carried away by the wave, to the entrance of the room. He picked it up, brushed some imaginative dirt off – the shimmering black satin was still dry and in perfect shape, due to continuous treatments with a waterproof ointment that Fai had invented all by himself. (His profession was that of a black mage but he had some experience in spell fencing and alchemy too, because he was the kind of man who used learning as a distraction from heartache and pain. And he had a habit of breaking his heart every now and then, when a handsome, dark stranger appeared in Valeria who happened to remind Fai of his first love.)

He put his top hat back on and regained his posture, reminding himself what he came for. As he approached the treasure chest, he noticed that there was no lock... but a price so thoroughly guarded was surely worth something. He only hoped it was enough to pay Yuuko, the wicked witch of the north, so that she would lift the curse from his country. That done, his father would owe him a few answers. Like: what had he been thinking, to make a bargain with a witch? And what was it that he got from her?

Frowning, he opened the wooden lid – and was swallowed by a cloud of black mist.

Oh, well. Guess I'm just as bad as all the other pervs in the pond. But I've read Gate 7 and I was thinking: well, if Hana can put a spell into Chikahito by kissing him- ya know?