Disclaimer: See the Prologue.

Chapter 2: Flower in the Thorns

The music thumped through the air in loud, chest-pounding beats. The melodic vibrations accompanying bright flashing lights and swirling colours of celebratory paraphernalia was an exhilarating spectacle for the excited partygoers. The packed bar, 'Wild Delusions', was buzzing with pre-tournament celebrations, running into the dead of the night.

Near the front of the club – wedged right into a corner at the cramped bar counter – sat Yugo and Alice, who were staying well away from the crush of revellers grouped onto the dance floor. Instead, they were getting into the spirit of things in their own way – with a few drinks. Somewhere on the dance floor, Uriko had pulled Kenji into the throng and refused to let him go, all the while swinging him about as she danced just as erratically as everyone else. The two were obscured from their older siblings' sights but they weren't too worried; they just hoped they wouldn't get into too much trouble.

"Want another drink?" Yugo shouted to Alice. Even though he sounded loud to himself, the music was obscuring his voice and she only half caught his words, though managed to work out his question through lip reading.

She downed the last contents of her glass and shook it in his direction. "A Gin and tonic, please; lots of ice!" She shouted back to him.

He nodded and caught the attention of the closest barman and ordered Alice's drink and another beer for himself.

The rabbit Zoanthrope smiled, more to herself than anyone else. He normally wasn't this nice, paying out to buy all her drinks. She knew it was his way of grovelling for all his transgressions recently.

The barman slid the drinks over to them and Yugo slapped the cash into his hand. He picked up his drink and took one huge gulp of it. Alice more-or-less nursed hers carefully, savouring it for now.

"So, are you going to forgive me?" He asked bluntly, before taking another huge gulp of his drink.

She carefully fingered the rim of her glass, leaning slightly against him. Her eyes, though cast downwards, showed somewhat of a coy demeanour. "Maybe…" She drawled teasingly.

"Aww, come on, Alice," he whined, lips involuntarily pouting. "I like you better when you're nice... and not hitting me with inanimate objects."

She laughed. "I suppose you would." Turning to look at him, her expression switched to something a little more serious. "I'm still a little mad about you hiding the tournament from me."

"I just don't want to see you get hurt," he said. "I'd hate myself if something happened to you."

She was deeply flattered, cheeks turning red. Sighing, she kissed two fingers and tapped his cheek in an affectionate gesture. "Alright, I'll forgive you."

He brightened up. "Great! I'm glad that's sorted!"

"But if you do it again…" She warned ominously.

"Okay, okay!" He defended and quickly rose his glass. "Let's just drink to teamwork. We're good, you and me! There's a job to do here, and we can do it together!"

She nodded, raising her drink too. "Yes, to teamwork!" And they 'clinked' glasses.

A commotion on the bar came as a rather surprising disruption to the pair as a drunken girl jumped up onto the counter just a few seats down and fumbled awkwardly to do a striptease mid-dance. It caused a big ruckus with catcalls and whistling piercing through the music. Just before she could rip her top off, she was pulled off the bar by security. She blew kisses to her adoring 'fans' as she was dragged away through the crowd.

Alice just shook her head at the abhorrent behaviour, while Yugo grinned behind his pint glass; he hid his face before his companion noticed. As he turned his head away, his eye caught someone familiar across the bar. That purple shirt, those glowing red eyes…

"Hey, isn't that ShenLong?" Yugo asked, nudging Alice's shoulder while inconspicuously pointing across to the man.

Upon seeing the familiar Zoanthrope, her eyes widened. "Oh my, what's he doing here?"

"Same reason as us, I suppose; the tournament." Yugo concluded and chugged down the rest of his beer.

She scowled somewhat. "Honestly, I get fed up of seeing that face."

Yugo smirked wildly. "You do realise that's Long's face you're talking about?"

Alice burst into nervous laughter, trying to brush off his comment as well as her own. "Oh, yes, well... That's not what I meant. I certainly wasn't intending to insult our friend."

Not fuelling her embarrassment any further, he cast his eyes back over to the tiger clone across the way.

He was nursing a beer in one hand and leaning his face against the other propped against the bar counter. His eyes were settled on a curly blonde woman who'd recently joined him. She was chatting and giggling away, oblivious to the fact he wasn't actually listening to her, just sort of admiring her and her exposed cleavage peeking out of a low cut top.

"Aren't you glad Long isn't here," Yugo said to the rabbit Zoanthrope.

"And why wouldn't you be glad of me being here?"

The two jumped and turned, feeling suddenly shameful as they turned to the calm-faced tiger Zoanthrope. He was looking a little more casual than usual, clad in sleeveless Mandarin-collared top in dark green, leaving his finely muscled arms on show.

Alice twiddled her fingers and tried to smile it off, but knew she looked ridiculous.

"Uh, we didn't mean it in a bad way!" Yugo quickly tried to rectify. "It's just… well, uh... Not something you'd want to know…"

He titled his head, a curious expression on his face. "I'm... rather confused by what you mean."

"It doesn't matter," Alice said sweetly, and then aimed to change the subject. "Anyway, what are you doing here? We didn't think you'd come?"

"Not willingly, I must admit. I was walking with Alan, Jenny and Jane and ended up being dragged in here."

"Where are the others?" Yugo said when he noticed Long was alone.

"Uriko and Kenji were talking to them when I last looked. The crowd pushed me this way and I just happened to see you, so I came over this way myself."

"Well, we're glad you came over!" Alice said and finished her drink.

Suddenly, Long went rigid and the two realised he was staring over the bar.

She cringed inwardly. So, he's finally noticed ShenLong...

"I think I understand what you were saying before." Long had focused narrow eyes on ShenLong, who was oblivious and still half-listening to the woman beside him. "Though, I am not surprised in the least that he's here."

"It doesn't matter though really," Alice's voiced soothed, hoping it'd calm the fire that seemed to be building behind his eyes. It was obvious their friend held a deep hatred of the other man.

He let out a deep sigh and cast his eyes to Alice. He had indeed calmed considerably. "Yes, you are right. Why should it matter? It isn't my business what he does now, just as long as he doesn't cause trouble."

A moment later, Shina approached, followed by her father and Jenny, having managed to push through the crowd to get to where Long was standing.

"There you are!" Shina said, slapping his back and giving him a wink. "And here I thought you'd snuck off."

"Well, I was hoping to," he said with a smile. She playfully socked his shoulder.

"You were trying to get away so I couldn't laugh at you some more!" She grinned wildly.

"Why would you do that?" Alice interjected.

Putting her hands behind her head, Shina grinned maniacally, humour-filled eyes locking on Long. "Well, when we got here, some drunken girl got chucked out the doors in front of us. How sweet it was to watch her saunter towards dear old Long here and flash him her breasts." She burst out laughing, with Yugo joining in just as loud. Alice giggled behind a hand. Long said nothing, though his cheeks noticeably coloured pink.

"That must have been the same girl who tried to strip on the bar," Yugo said through his laughter.

Shina calmed enough to speak again, though still sniggering. "You could tell Long was absolutely loving it!"

The said man scoffed, starting to look slightly annoyed. "I was not."

"Pfft, whatever you say, Long! Anyway, hi you two! I'm glad you're still here. We would have got here sooner if Miss 'Oh-I-Need-Ten-Tons-Of-Make-Up-On' didn't take so long to get ready." She eyeballed the blonde woman just behind her, who had taken up a seat at the bar.

Jenny looked her up and down in a nonchalant way. "I take pride in how I look."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shina's snapped at the sultry blonde, all her past humour gone in an instant.

"Come on now!" Gado addressed his daughter. "Why must you always get so worked up over everything she says? You make yourself look foolish."

Shina snapped around, staring darkly at her father. "Just like you to stick up for the skank."

"Jane, please be reasonable," Long said, trying to diffuse the argument.

She groaned. "Good grief, not you as well; great, everyone is against me!" Pressing up to the bar on Yugo's right side, she slammed her hand down. "I need a stiff drink."

Long sighed, wisely deciding to remove himself from the argument. "Well, I hope nobody minds, but I wish to go back to my apartment. I don't want to be anti-social, but this is really not my, as you say, 'scene'."

"Once a hermit, always a hermit," Yugo mumbled to himself. For that, Alice slapped him upside the head. "Ow! Damn it! Stop hitting me!"

Shina laughed. "Good one, Alice. If you hadn't hit him, it would have been me."

"We don't mind, Long," Gado said. "You didn't have to come in with us if you didn't want to."

"I'm glad you're not angry." The Chinese man bowed his head appreciatively.

"I won't be too long before I leave myself," Alice said. "The music is giving me a headache."

"Well, I don't know about you, but my legs were made for dancing. Our little kitten has the right idea." Jenny indicated over to Uriko still dancing like crazy. With an authoritative tug, the British woman pulled Gado towards the dance floor.

The Frenchman shook his head, trying to resist. "Oh no, I don't think so! I'm way too old for that kind of thing!"

Blood everywhere...

Staining the walls... splattering the ground... dripping into every known crevice. She could feel it; the blood running down her face. The warm liquid was still fresh with the potent smell of death. As it touched her lips, the coppery taste inevitably seeped in between, bitterly rolling down her tongue. Her reaction was to gag; she desperately gasped for air, but it was almost as if her throat was stuffed with thick cotton.

Heavy darkness began to cloud her vision, and all she could feel was a cold wind of death tickling across her flesh. Images bombarded her as she sank into the heavy blackness, like freeze frames from an old movie, showing massacred cities lost long ago in the depths of time.

Uranus managed to let out a shrill scream, which instantly ceased the resonant memories and she sat up in bed, quickly remembering where she was. She sucked in sweet, cool air, the tightness in her chest and throat relenting.

There was no blood in her apartment, nor any death or destruction; just the nice plain interior of her apartment bedroom bathed in the soft, blue glow of a moonlit night.

Her eyes quickly adjusted to her surroundings, assured now she wasn't dreaming, but she felt no comfort. It had been so long since she'd been plagued by these nightmares. Even during the last few peaceful years, the memories of the chaos had lingered in the back of her mind, but they had rarely surfaced. Until now, that was. In all her time since the chaos started, she'd never truly had a decent night's sleep. Even when she'd had pleasant dreams, her body wouldn't allow her to sleep for too long, fearful that the dark images would creep into her mind.

She kicked back the bedcovers forcefully and got to her feet, grabbing the clothes she'd worn that day to slip on. She was desperate for some fresh air, no matter how late it was.

Leaving her apartment, she ignored the people coming and going, still up celebrating the night away.

She took herself into the quiet garden; a beautiful, private haven behind the building. Nobody was there thankfully and she let herself flop face down onto the soft grass.

She would have given anything in the world to be someone else; just anybody, so she wouldn't have the terrible nightmares, the pain, or even the uncertainty of her own existence. There was a longing to be able to remember things without feeling clouded by what felt like two different minds. And the most important desire of them all...

... Just to be normal.

Slowly, she sat up, propping herself up on her elbows. She rubbed her hands down her tired face and let out a low groan. Why is it she remembered all the horrible nightmares but was easily able to forget all the wonderful things of her past? Her memories of her former self were fragmented and blurred, like a photo album that had been exposed to the harsh elements, the pictures barely recognisable. But there were still some big pages in that memory book which remained fairly clear, and let her – even for a moment – remember the person she once was.

Her recollections were predominantly of the chaotic experiences of her former time. Other happier memories struggled to break through to the surface, and many became buried so deep down that they had become forever lost to her. Even the more recent memories, like her time living in Rājasībhūmi with Orion, were starting to become fuzzy. Her fragile mind struggled to maintain the order and clarity that could decipher everything clearly. All the good things were heavily outweighed by the bad, and her mind seemed to easily latch onto the darker thoughts. She vowed not to allow the last bits and pieces of her true self to completely disappear. Maybe even one day she could put all the pieces of her broken memory back together. She'd keep on fighting on for as long as it took. She'd never let this cursed body defeat her.

This form... It's a morbid incarnation... She thought bitterly, face burying into her hands.

Such an existence felt so incredibly unfair…

She rolled onto her back, staring up at the starry sky, each one twinkling like a diamond imbedded on a layer of black silk. It was just so beautiful; so tranquil...

All around her was a profound sense of peace. The garden was serene, undisturbed and full of distinguishable life. Fireflies darted around in the air, crickets chirped in the thick shrubs. It almost seemed so far away from the music and laughter of the tournament celebrations, echoing distantly in the night air. Everything was so evenly intertwined. In this time and place, there was no destruction, hate or death, and for the briefest moment, she could really appreciate all the things she'd taken for granted.

She wanted to stay this way for as long as she could.

Her mind went back to the task at hand. King Orion. She had the urge to retch at the mere mention of his name inside her head; though, she quickly pushed the disgust aside. How was she going to stop him from being killed? It seemed rather strange that he would be the main cause of an apocalypse.

But it's not just him... Earlier that day, a small group of important sponsors – all human – had arrived. She'd watched the private jet land beside the palace from her balcony. It made sense that these men, all significant individuals with power and prestige, would cause a cataclysmic stir if they were killed. Orion and the sponsors combined had to be the devastating trigger for the chaos that had overtaken her original time.

They were all viable targets for someone with a vendetta; though, working out who exactly wanted them all dead was another thing all together. It wasn't going to be an easy task.

Besides that, she would be dealing with her embittered heart, which had been scorned by the King of the Zoanthrope Kingdom. A part of her didn't want to save him, and cherished the thought of him dying for ever being in cahoots with Tylon. But begrudgingly, she knew what she had to do. He had to live for another day, even if she really wanted to tear his throat out with her bare hands.

Tylon... That name is like a burning dagger through my heart. How could he do it? How did he ever think peace would come from such cruelty?

She hadn't told him about the childhood experiments. It had pained her too much. She had only ever mentioned in brief about being taken captive in her warring time, to be used as a lab rat. How could he work with such a company, knowing that the woman he dearly loved had been exploited by such similar people?

He never understood me...

Me…

That word cast aside the thoughts of him and brought reflection back onto her true self again. In this time, the person she once was, existed as another individual. She had to avoid contact with them – her past self – and all the people she'd known. It made her stomach knot with anxiety when she came into contact with them. The less contact she had, the better off she'd be. If only for her sanity...

There was one other person she hadn't really thought of, but now they'd come to mind, she wished she hadn't remembered them.

Her son...

She hadn't seen him since she'd come to this time, and her memories of him had been somewhat obscured. It was as if skipping fifteen years had caused her memories to become blotched with mental ink. She only had very few details left to cling to.

Thinking about him, she couldn't imagine what he'd look like now... That is, if he was still around.

Strangely, she hadn't felt him at all. Was he there at all, or… was he dead? No, he couldn't be, she'd have known somehow if he wasn't alive. And besides, there were whispers of his name amongst the crowds, though it hadn't really registered with her until she'd considered it just now.

Uranus couldn't have possibly known how time had changed her son. His aura, stronger now with his growing powers, was so much different to what she had once recognised. He wasn't the same as when she'd left him. He wasn't that little boy anymore.

But she didn't want to think anymore about him. It only pained her. A child born from love, or, what seemed like it anyway...

No! No more thoughts of him! If you don't see him then it's better for you both... That is... Would I even recognise him anyway? Forget about it... You have other things to focus on anyway...

She climbed back to her feet, stretching out her tired muscles. She needed to try and get some sleep; and even if she didn't, she needed to be able to relax on a nice, comfortable bed. The more refreshed she was for the morning, the greater her focus would be.

She followed the short path back towards the front of the apartment building, and was about to turn the corner when she nearly bumped head long into someone approaching from the opposite direction.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She bowed her head apologetically.

"No, it was my fault. I had not been paying attention."

Looking up in recognition of that voice, her heart started to race feverishly as she gazed into the light brown eyes of Long Shin. She inwardly cursed, having wanted to avoid meeting anymore of her past comrades. Her amber eyes glowed with nervousness, no matter how much she tried to hide it.

Long had left the bar some time ago and had opted to take a slow walk back to the apartments. He had been somewhat lost in his thoughts when he'd nearly collided with the beautiful young woman. He was surprised by the strange, yet exotic colour of her eyes; and of course, her azure hair, which shimmered in the moonlight.

There was a nagging feeling deep inside he couldn't quite shake. He could feel something akin to empathy build in his heart for this woman. As if, somehow, he knew her. The aura around her was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on why it was recognisable to him.

"Have we met before?" He couldn't help but enquire.

She silently gulped, spine almost rigid with unease. Turning her face away, she shook her head. "No. Never."

"Oh? I apologise. I just had this strange feeling that we may have."

Before she could answer, a voice cut through the clear night air. "Long!"

He turned from Uranus and saw Alice trotting up towards him.

"I must go now." Uranus quickly excused herself from his company and swiftly went through the door of the apartment complex.

Alice came to Long's side, frowning somewhat as she watched the woman he'd been talking to quickly retreat when she'd come near.

It was that Ura Tsukagami woman.

"Is everything alright?" She asked him.

He nodded in response. "Everything is fine."

"Do you know her?" She queried.

His eyes seemed somewhat distant. "It was peculiar. There was something about her that made me believe I'd met her before. I wouldn't usually forget anyone with such a unique appearance. It disturbs me a little that I can't place the feeling I got from her."

"Her name is Ura Tsukagami, I believe. I saw it on the register before I wrote my name down," Alice told him, recollecting what happened earlier that day. "There aren't many Tsukagamis' and I did consider… well… strangely I thought that in some way we could be related. It seems silly going by the name and the hair alone. After all, it could be sheer coincidence. But, you know…"

"I would not shake those thoughts from your mind," Long said unexpectedly. "With my own thoughts of recognition as well as your own feelings about possible relations, maybe there could be something..."

"I've just got this funny feeling... About where she might have come from…" She said uneasily. Long understood her implication. Experimentation had produced him a clone after all. They could have produced more based on other people as well.

"It could be nothing really," Alice added quickly. "But then again, as you say, I shouldn't rule the thoughts out. Maybe the tournament will reveal more about this Ura Tsukagami…"