Hello again! This is probably the longest oneshot I've ever written. I know I should be working on Red Sky at Morning, but there are some character issues I have to resolve before I can move on, and this has been in my head for a while clawing to get out. For the record, this is NOT yaoi/shonen ai, or whatever.

Disclaimer/Warning: There are mentions of suicide and abuse (you know, Marco-style Lyserg whumping). It's nothing too big, but if you're overly sensitive about such things, read at your own risk, but I don't think it's going to be a huge problem. Just a forewarning. I do not own Shaman King. I just like to play in the 'verse.

That said: I hope you enjoy.

Masque

Lyserg felt bad. Horrible. And not just emotionally, but physically as well, which is to be expected when you land yourself in the hospital for attempted suicide. Sighing, he turned his back to the door of his room, hoping his friends weren't out there, but knowing his luck, they were probably undoubtedly there. He felt so ashamed. How could he have let his life get so out of control like that? Not once after his parents died had anything gone right for him. He had been so focused on revenge that he had allowed himself to…to…he didn't want to think about it. He heard the door open and flinched as a powerful voice pervaded the air.

"This has probably been the stupidest thing you've ever done."

"Do you expect me to apologize?" he faced the voice. "Marco?"

The blond merely pushed up his glasses and stared down at the boy. "Because of this, you could have ruined everything."

Lyserg's voice shook with mocking laughter. "Could I? Well, I am so very sorry. I guess the thought of continuing the charade made me a little desperate." He held of his arms to emphasize. Quick as lightning, Marco grabbed a wrist and shook his arm menacingly.

"Don't mock me boy. You forget all that I've done for you. Who found you and took you in when no one else would and gave you a chance to avenge your parents? Who offered to train you and make you stronger?" He released Lyserg's arm. "Be grateful. Now get dressed. I've already checked you out. We're leaving."

"What do you mean he's been checked out?" Ryu was beside himself. "He was only admitted yesterday!"

The receptionist tapped at her keyboard. "I'm sorry, but our records show that he was admitted four days ago and released yesterday by his guardian."

"Guardian? Who?"

"I'm sorry but I can't release that information." She smiled apologetically.

"Well, thanks anyway." Ryu muttered as he pushed away from the desk and went to where his friends waited. "'He was released yesterday by his guardian.'" He quoted the receptionist as he flopped down into a chair. "'And we cannot release that information.' Wonderful."

"Well, at least we got the right hospital." Yoh said.

"Yeah. It was embarrassing bursting into his room and finding someone else in there." Horohoro moaned. "What I want to know is, if he came here four days ago, how come we only heard about it today?"

Ryu banged his hand into the table next to him. "I bet it was those X-Laws! Ever since Lyserg left with them they hadn't allowed him to see us voluntarily once! He can't even leave their ship without their say-so!"

Ren muttered, "It was his decision. Let him live with the consequences."

"Well, if he's not here and he's there, at least we know where he is and that he's okay." Yoh tried to cheer everyone up as they got up and left the building.

"You don't honestly believe that do you?" Horohoro asked. "You saw those bruises on his face. He didn't just run into a door you know."

Yoh frowned. "I know, but he made a choice. I don't agree with it, but you know how stubborn he can be. He's so focused on his goal, he'll push forward and endure whatever he has to in order to reach it."

Ren glanced at him. "But everyone has a breaking point."

Ryu just stared ahead in silent gloom.

Marco was mad. There was no doubt about it. It had to have been the worst beating he's ever gotten. Marco may have been furious, but he was careful this time not to leave any visible marks and to make sure he remembered this one since all of the others seemed to have been ignored. When he was finally released, Lyserg was positive he'd never forget it as he limped back to his cabin and crawled into his bed.

He tried to think, but he hurt too much and the thoughts were nothing more than a muddle anyway. Instead he stared up at the ceiling. Morphine sat in the crook of his neck to offer as much comfort as she could. She worried about him, he knew, and it must have broken her little heart to pieces at what he had done. He didn't know why she still even bothered to hang around. She disliked the ship because there were no flowers or sky or grass she could dance on and it and nothing pretty to look at or sweet to eat, but she endured it for his sake. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Morphine." He whispered. "I haven't taken good care of you. If everything were right, we'd be back home and you'd be playing in grandfather's garden."

The poor old man. It had nearly killed him when his only daughter and son-in-law died and he took in their child who refused to be trained by anyone but his father. Morphine put her tiny hands on his cheek and kissed his face. That one small act of unconditional love resolved something in him. "I'm going to have to make it up to the others too. The masked ball must come to an end sometime."

Ryu was beside himself. He had reverted back into the depression that had descended upon him when Lyserg had first left them. Everyone had reacted in pretty much the same way they had back then. At least Manta wasn't offering him anymore octopus fritters. He retreated back into his room to sulk by himself. He didn't know how long he sat there; it felt like hours when he heard some sort of scuffling at the base of the window. Curious, he walked over and just about had a heart attack when a hand clamped down on the window ledge. The another one. Someone was trying to climb up the wall!

He was just about to yell at the intruder when something about the familiarity of the hands nagged at him. Peeking over the edge, his eyes widened in shock. "Lyserg!"

The younger boy looked up and seemed to be surprised as well. "Ryu! Hey, do you mind helping me up? I'm not climbing these walls for the exercise you know." Ryu of course, was more than happy to.

"How did you find me?"

"Find you? I'm actually surprised I got the right building!" Lyserg brushed the accumulated dust off of his clothes.

"You didn't dowse?"

"Nope. It's too easy to find me if I do. It was best not to use any mana and appear like a blip on radar." He sniffed and looked about the room.

"What are you doing here? How did you get away?" Lyserg turned his attention away from surveying his surroundings and focused on his friend.

"I can get out of anywhere if I put my mind to it. I've been coming and going from that ship longer than you can imagine." He sobered a little. "That is, when I'm not put under watch."

There was that awkward silence when no one knew what to say next. Lyserg just fiddled with the bandages wrapped around his wrists. When he noticed Ryu watching, he stopped and put his hands behind his back.

"That's why you were in the hospital?"

Lyserg felt even more ashamed and stupid. "Yeah, I'm surprised you didn't come to see me earlier."

"We all came once we heard, but you were already gone."

"I don't doubt Marco delayed it somehow. He can do that you know. Almost unlimited resources. But I'm not here to talk about him. I'm here to tell you that the game is no longer afoot. I'm going to clear some things up and then I'm leaving. This time for good."

"You're leaving?" Ryu cried. "But why?"

Lyserg smoothed his hair back and shook his head in sympathy. "You had better sit down. This will probably literally knock you off of your feet."

Ryu complied and sat at the small table provided. Lyserg pulled out the chair across from him. "You already know part of my story, from what I told you when we first met, but this is the full, actual version. Don't get me wrong, what I told you was true. I just left out some details. After my parents died, I was sent to live at my grandfather's house. My mother's father. I refused to be trained by anyone other than my father, so my talent's growth would have undoubtedly been severely stunted. Needless to say, I was rather difficult.

One day I accidentally saw my grandfather crying over a photo of my parents. That's when I resolved to get stronger and kill their murderer. I worked hard to develop my skills and find out who their killer was. After I discovered it was Hao, I started planning, tracking down every possible lead. That's when I was confronted by Marco."

"But you've never seen him before Ashril!"

"I am sorry. I knew about the X-Laws longer than I let on. I was supposed to. Those were my orders and my mission."

Ryu was shocked. "Mission?" he eventually stammered out.

Lyserg hid his face in his hands. "I am sorry. Once they found out about Yoh and who he was, they sent me to play the part of the lost orphan to get close to him and to keep tabs on your group. How do you think they always knew more than they should have? After the incident with Boris, Lady Jeanne thought it would be best if I was withdrawn. Marco agreed because he knew I was getting too attached. It was recruitment all over again."

There. It was out. Now that Ryu knew the full story, he expected him to yell and tell him to leave. Lord knows he deserved it. Instead, he felt two muscular arms encircle him and pull him into a bone-crushing, yet gentle embrace. He stiffened, for it had been years since anyone had ever hugged him and he eventually relaxed, even though the remnants of Marco's last beating still really hurt.

They stayed like that for a while before the older man spoke. "Quite the actor."

"You're not mad?"

"Naturally, I'm upset. It was also a stupid thing to do, slicing your own wrists open. Try something like that again and I'll have to ask Miss Anna to put you through her training program from Hell."

"You're too forgiving, you know. Like Yoh. It's kind of annoying. Could you let me go now? It's really starting to hurt." There was no need to tell him why. "I'd better leave now. I want to get a head start."

"Where will you go?"

Lyserg shrugged. "Even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you. That way if they interrogate you, you'll be able to answer honestly and say you don't know." He walked back to the window and looked out. "I know Morphine will be happy. She hated it there. This is not only for my sake, but for hers. I haven't really taken good care of her." He tapped his knuckles against the stone.

"I can't go back home. That will be the first place they'll look. I had hoped to go back and settle down and maybe rebuild the staircase, but it looks like I'll be on the road longer than I had anticipated. The angel that got away. Kind of poetic don't you think? Melodramatic. Maybe I'll be an actor."

Ryu remained silent. He felt that it wasn't an appropriate moment to say anything. He himself was absorbing what was happening. His friend was leaving and he didn't know if he'd ever see him again. Instead, he took in his features and imprinted them into his mind: slender frame and effeminate features. He didn't doubt that the next time he saw him, he'd be drastically changed. It broke his heart to realize this, to miss seeing him grow up.

"Well, I'd better get going. It'll be dawn in a few hours." He looked back at his friend. "Tell Yoh and the others I said goodbye, but only after things have blown over. It will make it easier for all of us." He threw his legs over the windowsill and dropped down, but not before throwing Ryu a wave and a genuine smile. Then he was gone.

Lyserg knew that Ryu would think that he had left immediately after saying goodbye, but the truth of the matter was, he stayed around a little longer, watching the building where they slept. Horohoro would be out cold and he wasn't sure about Ren, but he knew Yoh would be with Anna. He grinned. "'Said the Apple to the Orange, 'Oh, I've wanted you to come close to me and kiss me to the core. You may know me like no other Orange has ever done before.''"

He got up from crouching in the bushes, grabbed his small bag, and took off. It wouldn't do to be caught this early on in the game. Marco would almost certainly beat him to death. He pushed the thought from his mind. No. That was all behind him now. No one would ever lay an unfriendly hand on him again. He swore for himself and his possible future family, if it ever came to that. No one would touch them as long as he was still breathing. He would be their guardian and avenging angel. His thoughts flew back to his friends and he silently prayed for them. He would see them again. Someday.

Naturally, Marco came the next morning, demanding to know where the boy was, and naturally, no one said anything. The X-Laws had noticed his absence earlier that morning and searched ever since for no one left the X-Laws without punishment, but they had not been able to find any trace of the young Briton who had seemingly fallen off of the face of the earth. Jeanne cried over the desertion of one her angels, but she realized that the damage had already been done. They would keep looking for him, but for now, the main priority was Hao who was getting closer and closer to achieving his goal.

Ryu, who eventually deemed it safe, explained to his friends the events leading up to the morning when the X-Laws paid them a visit. They seemed to understand, and acted as if they never even had the conversation. Life in the tournament went on as normal as normal could get if you took out the almost-daily deaths and general craziness. No one really acknowledged the past events except in passing thought for Anna's training regime from hell kept them on the run.

Ryu thought about his friend every day. For example, how could he even get off of the island? There had been rumors that shaman who attempted to leave died, but he doubted that it was even true. He figured if Lyserg had been going to and from the Ark X for years without any problem, he could get off of the island. Maybe he had slipped onto a boat leaving for the mainland. He had seen them coming and going occasionly taking defeated participants home. Home. Life was uncertain here. Any one of them could die any day without warning what with Hao and his lackeys roaming around collecting souls for the Spirit of Fire to eat. Jerks. He hoped Lyserg would find a good life wherever he was and not get into any trouble. He heard his friends calling him. Another fight is about to start.

The lyrics are part of the song "Clifton in the Rain/Small Fruit Song" by Al Stewart (no copyright infringement intended). Ever since I heard those lyrics, I've been reminded of Yoh (the Orange) and Anna (the Apple) and wanted to do something with it, but for those who know me, I cannot write a serious romance to save my life (you all know how hard it was for me to do it in Pretty in Black! haha!). Support Al Stewart by buying his music!

I've never seen so many spelling errors when I proofreading this! What was I on?

Review my friends!