The Seas Call Us Home…

And both come with lies, both fall in love; a love too deep to escape.


Iggy stomped across the foredeck with a foreboding gait, the stench of the heaving sea tossing salty sprays upon the deck, displacing the seventy crew hands under slips of stray saewater.

Scores of burly and brine encrusted men stood in disarray before their captain, their faces grudging and scowling in ugly succession of the other.

Iggy walked with an intimidating step across the foredeck in the opposite direction, scrutinizing every man with shocking emerald eyes, predatory and harboring anger.

"I want you to explain to me." Iggy thundered across the deck, "what is this all about!"

Every snatch of the whispery rumors had reached his ears. While he was quite naïve to the content, his first mate advised him to actually address the whole crew so that the unsatisfied men could voice out their individual grudges, which would assist in resolving possible chaos in the future.

Democracy, Iggy's right hand mate called it, the voice of opinion and dissent freely spoken. Iggy didn't really pay attention to the suggestion, but he realized that it was the best way to go because his crew wasn't just ten or twenty in number. Their numbers were greater than the typical crew, and although he was a good swordsman, the hope of winning against fifty people alone was indeed futile. And it seemed the gossip had exaggerated itself. It morphed into a mess.

Fragments of 'he is a born homo' or 'he didn't care about the crew, as long as he had that bitch' and 'he is getting senile' trickled past his ears like flows of rainwater. Iggy couldn't take the last insult, although he was actually surprised that his crew thought that he would abandoned his livelihood because of Yao.

True enough, he liked being in company with the Asian beauty. But for him, piracy was the only life he knew. If he needed to choose, he would choose the sea over everything. Perhaps.

Well, maybe. But he didn't need to choose now, so nothing would call for such a decision just yet. When the time came, the choice would come of its own accord.

So, he shouted, "One of you come forward and voice your disagreement!" to the whole crew. The men grumbled, but no one dared to come forward. Iggy waited with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"I never knew you are all chicken! I want to know who start this and how you all thought of me! Because I am neither fool nor romantics, I am a PIRATE! Moreover I am your captain, bastards! So come forward and tell me what you think about this entire stupid affair!" His voice was a strike of lightning through their confidence, but some still held determination in their eyes.

"You stole our bitch!"

One of the men came forward, beard like Brazilian jungle and an eye patch crossing his left eye. He was one of the fresher crewman to join, not over a month ago, so his inexperience over their captain's cruelty and eccentricity was laid bare.

"You gave him to us, yet take him again before we had finished satisfying ourselves! You want to monopolize every beautiful creature that crosses your path and we don't need a selfish captain!"

"So it's you, huh?" Iggy smirked to himself, walking toward the man. The bearded man swallowed hard as he watched as his captain moved closer. What the blonde Englishman lacked in build was supplemented in an overwhelming aura.

"So you're saying I am a selfish captain, huh? And now I ask you back: don't you have all the beauties from the previous island we went to? What happened to them?" Iggy pressed, fingers skittering on the hilt of his sword like spider limbs.

"They..They are not as amusing as the beauty…" the man faltered, losing his confident edge.

"Even when that beauty is a man? And tell me, when I found him in you wretches' room, why was he was almost dead? You told me you hadn't finished screwing him. So you are telling me that you will screw him to death? Or maybe… even after death? Are you turning into disgusting perverted maniacs who pleasure in screwing corpses? You'll have many chances to satisfy your weird desire the next time we find safe harbor. I'll provide you with more than enough corpses if you want!" Iggy cackled, animalistic.

"He…hell! I am not a …" the man looked around to see that his mates were moving away from him. There was an untold agreement on the ship that, although they were pirates, and as inhuman they could be, nobody would screw a corpse. For it was a cursed thing to do and if a cursed man boarded on the ship, the ship would definitely succumb to unfortunate events.

"…I am not saying that! I didn't want to screw him until death! We all screwed him, anyway!" the man sputtered, hoping to soothe the captain's anger.

"Even until he lost his consciousness, almost dying from lack of air?" Iggy squinted his eyes, narrowing them to thin slits.

The bearded man roared back, cornered like a rat. "He didn't pass out! He was seducing us!"

"…Seducing?" Iggy repeated, lips a firm line.

"Yeah! Little whore wanted nothing but deeper penetration! It always happened when he was almost fainting, and suddenly he just changed into seductive, annoyingly sexy incubus!" the man protested. Iggy's hand stroked the gleaming, decorative tassel fastened at the end of his sword.

Iggy didn't believe what he heard, and he continued to mock the man further. People who were present at the scene watched on in silence as Iggy drew his blade in a flourish and slashed the air before the man. There was a delayed reaction before it fell in a heap to the man's feet. It was degrading and shameful, losing one's beard, the symbol of some men's pride and each man wished to partake in no such shaving ceremony if they could.


Yao, in another place, met the reality inside the isolated study room.

He went there solely for the purpose of treating his little brother's wounds. What should have been luminous and pallid skin was marred by scores of wounds, and his little brother had been unconscious ever since Iggy the cruel yet handsome pirate brought him to Yao.

He gently stroked his little brother's cheek. It was smooth as flowers' petals.

Before the whole incident, Yao and Kiku had been raised inside a golden cocoon, opulence rivaled only what was writ in holy texts and legendary tales They were the first and second crown prince of the Northern Kingdom who ruled over the vast area between Mongolia, Russia and the Burmese Empire. They were the strongest, largest, and most chaotic country. It was natural, for theirs was a kingdom of far greater lands and sublime riches. There is also the burden of greater responsibility.

Yao was a confident man. Of course, his skills and knowledge were top notch; his calligraphy was the best in the palace. Even the emperor himself agreed that Yao has the best at calligraphy and sword play. His father, the Emperor, doted on him a little too much for Yao was the first son born after a string of unimportant daughters from his wives. When Kiku arrived, although the happiness wasn't as much as his, but still very festive because they were the only two princes who would succeed to the highest throne.

And more importantly, Yao had the face of the most beautiful deity on the kingdom. His and Kiku's mother was the beauty of the millennium—the perfect beauty. She was a frail woman, but God blessed her beauty in place of her health. Soon after Kiku, she passed away in agony, but both her sons still possessed her magnificent beauty.

And since he was almost nineteen, to his brother's fifteen, it was already the age where Yao's maturity was questioned by some of the quests he often embarked on. Usually his quests were simple for his acute mind, say, conquer another land (it was the current emperor's quest) but since their land was already too vast, his father had charged Yao with another task: capture the most notorious pirate to sail on their sea.

The captain in question was called Iggy. His lot were the most sinister pirate of their time; ransacking villages one after another, leaving nothing but virulent claws of flames and cries of anguish in their wake. They reduced his sisters into a traumatic state, fearing that their empire was next, and the pirate's numbers had increased as the months flew by. The news reached the emperor's ears quickly, since the band of pirates had already destroyed countless villages six months time. Fantastic record, one must say.

Yao knew he could do it. He was smart and charming. Everybody likes him, whether they wanted to or not. But he only loved his little brother, who was sweet, innocent and gentle. Kiku was the type of boy who would grow up into a man who would shed a tear over a fallen flower, so Yao felt like he needed to protect his little brother from being seated in the throne where the daily struggle of murders and violence were present. So he promised himself he would prove his worth to their father and take the throne, and he would then place his little brother in a sanctuary in the deepest confines of the palace, protected from any harm.

Little had he known that he would have surrendered his precious brother to such a malignant nightmare when he asked him to come along. Yao had studied the pirates' activity with care, and by anticipating the sailing and wind direction, he had easily deduced the course the ship was taking. His confidence with himself and his plan was adequet, which was to infiltrate the ship as a lowly and helpless courtesan and then studied the interior of the ship, the people and the captain before signalling for the royal troop to ambush the pirate ship, for his father's navy had been trailing the vessel since the inception of this scheme.

With his calculations, Yao knew that the ship would sail through the Philippines strait by the end of two weeks, and he ordered this assembly of ships to wait on the strait's many smaller islands; to act only on Yao's command. It had been almost a week since he and Kiku boarded the foul pirate ship, and he had yet to move a single step out of Iggy's bedroom freely and without cause of sexual provocation.

He had complained incessantly, at first.

But as he tended to his little brother's wounds, Yao started to feel ridiculously stupid. What was he was thinking? It had been his arrogant mind and the 'perfect' plan. He shouldn't have brought his little brother into the quest. It was his own selfishness because he hadn't wanted to be separated from his brother for too long. Of course, he had a valid reason for that: because of the politics and chaos, other people would take the opportunity to assassinate him once he was free from being under Yao's wing. Or at least one of them, if not the weaker boy. And Yao thought it would've be safer if he had brought Kiku with him.

Kiku had not rejected the idea either, because he was definitely had quite a brother complex. Just as Yao was overprotective of his little brother, Kiku idolized his big brother. Everything Yao did was always magnificent in his innocent and quiet eyes. And he refused to be separated from his brother.

Yao stopped pondering over his mission and instead started to undress his brother, just to change the bandages when suddenly Kiku flinched. He was awake.

"Kiku!" Yao exclaimed with happiness. "Finally, aru! I am so glad.. Oh Tian, I am so sorry…"

Before he finished his apology, Kiku was already shouting in panic and running to a wall, awkwardly posed on it like he was a gecko. He looked like a trapped rat on the corner, fear obvious on his face.

"Don't come near! Don't touch me! Don't look at me! Yao-nii! Yao nii! Yao nii! Help me! Don't come near! Don't come near! Don't!" Kiku screamed hysterically, slumping to the floor, hands sheltering his face in a display of horror, body gathered into himself.

"Kiku…" Yao grimaced, chest painfully throbbing as he became witness to what a wreck his little brother had become.

"..It's me. I am Yao, aru. It's me," Yao whispered in birdsong, treading soundlessly across the creaky wooden floor.

"Yao nii! Yao nii! Where are you? Save me! Yao niii!" Kiku darted into a corner, trembling against a massive bookcase.

"Kiku…"

"Yao nii! Yao nii! Save me! Save me! I am scared! Yao nii!" Kiku bawled, madly crying and screaming.

"Kiku, I am me, aru!" Yao cried, seizing the trembling form of his brother in his arms, holding him tightly.

"Yao…nii…. Why did you leave me…?" Kiku murmured, sinking into Yao's arms. Yao could distinctly feel the hot tears against portions of his bare skin.

"Kiku! I have not left you! Look, I am here, aru! Feel me!" Yao tried to hold his tears and held his little brother even tighter when suddenly the twitching body went limp. Then he was pushed back by some enormous energy that clearly couldn't come from his little brother's slim arms.

"Kiku!" In his surprise, Yao was pushed backwards upon the desk and fell to the floor. He flinched, because his ass was still sore from being used by the tenacious captain last night. But his pain didn't last longer, because his attention was shifted to the being who stood in front of him, half naked, sloppily dressed in the rag, who used to be Kiku but now no longer felt like Kiku although they possessed the same face.

"This is a nice place, aru." Kiku smiled. Yao swallowed.

Did he just say, 'aru'?

"I can see why you look so glamorous. Between this magnificent room and the silk you are wearing, you don't give a damn about your brother anymore, don't you, aru?" Kiku smiled mockingly and walked around the room. "It's a pity that I can understand why I should be envying you. We are both 'Yao', but your condition is far better than mine. You wore silk while I wear next to nothing. You are covered in perfumes and fine jewellery—bad taste, by the way, just like villager's—and I am covered in cum. Just like heaven and hell, aru. Even though it was actually your—ours, to be exact—plan in the first place. You come here and sacrificed your dearest little brother, aru? Are you sure you are 'Yao'?"

Yao trembled. In front of him was Kiku who spoke and acted like him. Preaching him about his mistake. Removing to him all the guilt inside his heart. Who…

"Who are you, aru? You are not my Kiku!" Yao shouted tearfully, skirting around the desk, eyes locked with cold, monochromatic ones.

"Of course I am not, aru. I am Yao. I am you. Inside our little brother's body."


Notes: Thank you for Gisette, for all your hardwork! This story will gt a bit longer, so please hang in there. Thank you for reading.

Credits: Inspired by ka_yakusoku at LJ, concept and plot by Hasegawa, written by Hasegawa, co-written and betaed by Gisette Kievan Rus.