A/N: I came fresh from a beach vacation! Hoorah!
Chapter Six: The Other Task
Jounouchi was right. When Atemu had run out the hatch, a sea had awaited him, and a raging storm. Everybody was swimming, enjoying the water; despite the rain.
He watched Yuugi come out and reach his hand to him. "Atemu!" he called. "Come on!"
He hesitated, and bit his lip. "Aibou…I don't know how to swim," he admitted.
"So? You can still wade in it! You don't have to swim! We haven't gone that far!" Yuugi took the pharaoh's hand and pulled him into the water and rain. Atemu suddenly felt cold all over, and shivered, pulling his jacket over his exposed chest.
The two brothers stepped deeper into the water, until only their necks were above the surface. "Careful you don't drink too much," warned the boy, "the water's really salty, but it's not so bad." He let himself lie down, and his body was leveled with the water. "It's easier to float in sea water, anyway." He smiled at the older boy.
Somewhere amidst the storm, a child's voice can be heard. Atemu turned to see Kisobi on Zue's back, her legs round his waist. Zue then sunk the both of them underwater, and when they rose, Kisobi was laughing and squealing with glee. "What are they doing?" Atemu asked.
"Yuugi rose again, and looked. "Aww, piggyback! Zue, I wanna try too!" He swam to Zue, who led him into a chase.
"Piggyback?" the man repeated, but he was cut by thunder…and a violin.
It's was Anzu's turn to squeal. "I know that tune!" She swam back to the ship, and ran inside, followed by Tata, Zue, and Kisobi. Yuugi was left to play with Jounouchi and Honda.
Atemu shrugged at the tune, and waded on, until he found out it was not a piece; it was a song.
Kizukanai furi wo shite
Chiisana mado kara tooku wo mitsumeteta
Sora ni hirogaru tenshi no koe
Kaze ni dakarete
"No wonder they're all getting worked up," cut in Otogi. "That's a song from a few months ago—pretty new—and all the girls know it."
"Then…why did Zue join them?"
"The Ugomi twins love music, and here comes the chorus." As Otogi spoke, they heard voices inside the Empyrean, singing:
Mawaru, mawaru... okizari ni sareta jikan no naka de watashi wa ima
Les miserables
Ai shisugita anata ga kabegiwa no mukou de
Sotto waratteru
"Todokanai," sang Zue, "kono omoi dake…toiki ni nosete." Then an interlude came on, and Atemu heard the girls cheering Zue's name, Kisobi's voice being the loudest.
He clapped. "He is good," he remarked with a smirk. "They all were." Thunder crashed somewhere, and the rain poured in stronger.
"Atemu!" Shizuka called to him. He turned to see her waving an arm across the air. "Give me a piggyback!"
The man gaped at her, a visible blush on his face. "Wh-what?"
"It's easy!" the girl swam to him, went behind, and wrapped her arms around Atemu's neck, legs around his waist. "Just hold onto my legs and walk around," she told him. He did as she said, and started wading along the sea. He observed that she was unusually light, and said as much. "That's because we're underwater. You're light enough to float, especially in the sea."
"I understand," Atemu said, and listened as the chorus of the song came again. "Do you know that song, Shizuka?"
"Yes, but I'm not into music very much. Anzu let me hear it once before, and that was it."
"And Kisobi?"
"I heard she likes music a lot. I'm not surprised, because she's Tazue's cousin."
"Tazue?" he almost slipped over a rock, but regained his balance. He tasted the water for a moment, and coughed on its saltiness.
Shizuka giggled. "Don't you get it yet? When you address them together, you call them Tazue, as one person. It's legal, since it's their first name, anyway."
"You know very much, Shizuka," said Atemu. "I can learn a lot from you."
"You can't learn from me alone," she replied. "I mean, some people don't have to teach just so others could learn. Take Kisobi for example. She couldn't see anything. But she's happy, nonetheless, isn't she?"
"What does she teach, then?"
"To accept and be content with what you have."
He remembered Kisobi on Bakura's lap, eating mangoes the day before, and with Shizuka's statement, he realized that she doesn't seem so ghostly anymore. "Yes, she is happy, despite herself."
"A girl like her would be easy to love," said Shizuka, and got down from Atemu. "Thanks for the ride."
"My pleasure, Shizuka," he replied. "You'll be easy to love as well." He smiled, and returned to the deeper waters, leaving Shizuka to blush.
La Madame entered one of the cabins, where her guests were resting. Closing the door, she sat on a couch, one leg over the other. "Bonjour, messieurs. Are you comfortable?" she asked them.
"Yes," was the quick answer from one. "When do we see the girl?"
The woman's eyes narrowed. "Patience," she answered in French, "you'll see her soon enough." She paused to smoke. "And the 'pharaoh'? How is he involved?"
"He was chosen to personally bring the girl to our employer," another answered. "We are only here to explain the circumstances…or show."
"Whoever your employer is, I don't care. You will pay dearly if the jeune fille is harmed," the woman warned.
"The fille is no longer our responsibility, madame," said the one in the middle, assumingly the leader. "It is the pharaoh's and the knight's."
"Chevalier?" La Madame repeated in French. A smirk appeared on her lips. "Interessant. Do you need anything else, messieurs?"
"Nothing else, thank you, ma'am," the leader answered. "Only that things go as planned."
"Comprende. Understood." La Madame stood up, and left the room. Outside waited Zue, who'd redressed with Kisobi and his sister. "I heard your voice. C'est magnifique. You've improved."
"I can't wait to hear you sing again," Zue answered eagerly. "You and your sisters, and Tata…and Kisobi."
"Like old times." Though she was complemented, La Madame only nodded. "They need time to perceive everything. We'll have to pick some things up on the way. Is that enough time?"
"Is that all the time you can give?" asked the boy.
The woman bent down and caressed Zue's face, as would a mother do her son. "I know it's not enough, but it's all Driam can offer right now."
"How can you be off duty, and Driam can't? This is his ship, after all!" He watched as La Madame bit her lip. "…You didn't tell him, did you? That you took the Empyrean." She silently nodded. "There's more to this, isn't there?"
She nodded again, and smiled. "You can still see through lies. Driam refused to let me use it alone, but I couldn't wait." She looked out the window, and slipped the pipe into her lips. "The storm's almost over. Prepare for take-off, Capitaine Zue."
"Aye-aye, ma'am!" Zue saluted the woman, and ran out.
La Madame held back a smile. If the Empyrean could speak, she would have been pleased to know that her new pilots were now of top notch.
"Get in, everyone!" called Tata. "We're takin' off!"
Everyone swam back to the ship, and Tata hoisted everyone onto the hatch before sitting in front of the controls.
The boys gaped at her in disbelief. "You'll fly this ship?" they asked.
"Got a problem?" Zue asked behind them, and sat beside her. "We'll fill in as pilots until we get the captain. Who's a good shooter here?"
"That would be me," Honda stepped forward.
"We've got one seat left," said Tata. "You can take over, right?"
"I don't mind, as long as you teach me the drill."
"We're not idiots to let passengers tamper with the controls on our airship!" Zue said. "Sorry, I meant no offense, Honda-san."
"None taken," Honda shrugged.
"'Kay! Everyone, turn off your cell phones and hold on to something!" Tata commanded, and the engine hummed as La Madame strode across the cockpit to pull on the string attaching the hatch to the ship. Atemu and Yuugi watched in awe as she drew it in with strength.
"Here's your first joyride aboard the Empyrean!" she said, clinging on the bar above her. They felt the ship rising slowly, and when Atemu checked the window, he can see the ripples on the water.
It was the forward thrust that surprised the lot. It was fast—only La Madame had stood firm as the others were all thrown back. However, that was all they needed to worry about. Once it was over, they were safe to move.
"You guys alright?" Honda called back. They answered in chorus, and nobody seemed hurt.
"We'll be landing at about noon," explained Zue, "and her Grace's got some other people you can meet."
"Other people?" Bakura restated. "Who?"
"Just follow the woman and see for yourself, man!" shouted Tata, and La Madame ushered Yuugi and Atemu into the elevator.
"Who're we supposed to see?" Yuugi asked.
"You've met them before," was the woman's mere answer when they walked together along the corridor. "I'll be in my cabin when you need me, boys. À plus tard." She strode away.
"Well…" Yuugi placed his hand on the knob. "Here goes…" he opened the door.
"We meet again, Yuugi Mutou; Pharaoh," a voice welcomed them. A well-familiar voice. Sitting on the couch in front of them were the three swordsmen of Dartz. The speaker was Rafael, who looked like he barely changed.
Atemu sighed, almost unsurprised to see him. If he dreamed about Dartz, there was no doubting these three were involved. "I almost expected to see you," he told them, and Yuugi stared at his yami, confused.
"I'm sure you did," said Varon. "Dartz has been recurring in your dreams, hasn't he?"
"Atemu…" Yuugi spoke, and the man looked at him reassuringly, silently telling him that he'll explain later. The boy nodded hesitantly, and turned to Doma. "He's been having nightmares lately," he said. "Are they involved?"
Amelda nodded. "Dartz is seeking a girl aboard this ship, and he wants the pharaoh to personally deliver her to him. She goes by the name Yukiasobi Ragasshiru."
"Yukiasobi Raggas—" Atemu stopped in mid-protest, and recollected: YUKIASOBI. "Kisobi?"
Amelda nodded again. "With each swordsman Dartz recruited, he gave them a mission to collect souls for the Orichalcos God—" Yuugi's and Atemu's brows furrowed, "—as well as keep watch over the girl. We were free from that contract as soon as the serpent was destroyed."
"Then why did you come here?" asked Atemu. "If Dartz was at peace, and you were free from his service, why does he still need Kisobi? What's her worth?"
"Much more than any of us will know," Rafael answered, throwing a blade before them. It was a large scythe attached to a long pole, with dry blood along the sharp edge. The pharaoh's eyes widened: it was the blade the girl had wielded, and Rafael smirked at this. "You've seen it before, haven't you?" he asked the pharaoh. "You've seen yourself die by that blade, in the hands of a girl."
"Die?" asked Yuugi. "You don't expect us to believe that Kisobi wants to kill Atemu, do you?"
Varon shook his head with a smile. "No, we don't—not immediately, at least."
"Impossible!" Atemu almost roared. "How can Kisobi—how can a child like Kisobi even know how to kill?"
"The way I see it, nothing's impossible around you, pharaoh," said Rafael, with a visible smirk. "It was the Frenchwoman who'd hired us to find it. Our job here is to make sure that the blade was passed on to her without the girl even seeing it—" he pointed to the scythe, "—and yours is to keep her happy throughout the journey."
The pharaoh raised an eyebrow. "Happy? Happy? Isn't she happy enough, already?"
"Not for long," Amelda said. "She wouldn't be happy to find out we're not coming home soon; that the twins can't play around with her because they're manning a ship; or that she was someone she cannot understand, and we cannot say why."
"Why not?" asked Yuugi.
"We don't know all the answers yet," said Rafael. "Maybe we'll never know everything. Not even Dartz can fill in the missing blanks."
"So you'll depend on me for answers," said Atemu. "You'll send me to Dartz to answer his questions. And what about Kisobi?"
"She's your responsibility," Varon said, taking back the scythe. "Do to her what you wish. Now, go."
"Alright…" Yuugi opened the door, and let his yami come out first before himself. He sighed deeply. "Keep her happy…"
"I'm sorry I put you into this Yuugi," said Atemu.
The boy smiled. "Let's just forget about all this until we land." He took his yami's hand and ran back to the elevator. "We're gonna keep Kisobi happy, so we'll just have some fun!"
"Fun?" Atemu bit his lip. "What will I do?"
"Games are nice," answered Yuugi. "How about holding out some food to Kisobi and let her guess what it is?"
"There's a game like that?" asked Atemu. "But where could I find food?"
"There should be lots of food aboard," said the hikari, and they rode the elevator upwards. "Why not ask Tazue where they keep it?"
"I gue—" the sound of metal hitting metal was heard outside, and the Empyrean shook violently. "What was that?" he asked, and the elevator opened in front of the two. Everyone stared at them for a moment before another bump startled them again. "What's happening?"
"Something's gettin' in!" hollered Tata. "Honda, get ready to shoot! Zue, get up there, hold 'em off, and see who's tryin' to break in!"
"Right," Zue said, and unbuckled his straps, speeding towards the elevator, where La Madame had just entered. "Can you hold the fort until I come back?" The woman shrugged, and the boy entered the elevator, punched the Deck button, and the doors closed.
La Madame walked briskly across the cockpit. "How many on radar, Tata?"
"They damned spoofed the radar!" she replied, and banked rightwards, almost throwing everyone off balance. "They're tryin' to intercept us!"
"And Kisobi?"
"How can you expect me to keep track of her at a time at this?" Tata then looked back. "Oi! Where's Kisobi?" A little hand rose at the room's corner, where she had cuddled herself, well hidden. "Get back here, kid!"
Anzu escorted her to the front, where a squadron was waiting past the windshield. "Tata, you've never mentioned anybody was after us."
"I didn't think anybody would come after us," Tata answered hastily, placing Kisobi on the woman's lap. "Anzu, get back! I'm gonna shake it off! Hang on!" As soon as Anzu reteated, Tata had banked, veered, and backed in the sky, and the finishing touch was a barrel roll that sent everybody to their knees.
"You fool!" scolded the woman, holding a dizzy Kisobi's head. "You could've thrown Zue off!"
"If ya ask me, that guy's just okay." They see a burning plane crashing into the ocean. "See?" Later on, Zue entered—Atemu noticed he looked rather pale—and it was Tata who left her seat. "My turn!"
Atemu watched from his hiding place that Zue was whispering to La Madame, whose face went grave at the news. She whispered something back to him, who nodded and ordered Honda not to shoot. "All of you! Take Kisobi back and hide in your cabins!"
"What's going on?" asked Jounouchi.
"No time to explain now, just hide!" La Madame rose, held Kisobi's hand and let half the group inside the elevator, then leading the rest down the stairs. While each fled into their cabins in twos, the woman called for Yuugi before kissing Kisobi's forehead. "Keep her safe, and out of sight," said, and went up the stairs again.
The airship then slowed down to a light drift. Meanwhile, the pharaoh—who had noticed that his aibou was not leading him—stopped and looked back. The boy was holding Kisobi's hand. Searching his face for an explanation, Atemu came over and clasped the girl's shoulder.
"Keep her happy, safe, and out of sight," Yuugi counted of the tasks at hand. "We might as well get started. Kisobi, you like some TV for a while?"
The little girl shrugged. "Okay." Her blank eyes stared straight past them, focused on nothing. "Is something gonna go wrong?"
"Nothing is." said Atemu. "And if anything bad will happen, everything will turn out fine in the very end." He patted Kisobi's head upon speaking that last. "I haven't seen the Nightmare Before Christmas before. Will you watch it with me?"
Kisobi shook her head, to the man's shock. But before he can ask why, she gave an answer. "I haven't watched it either." She placed a hand over her eyes to give her point, and Atemu wished he'd taken his question back. She laughed at the silence, and reached out her hand, feeling for something. When she brushed Atemu's shoulder, she patted it. "I get that all the time. Let's watch!"
Yuugi couldn't help but smile at the girl's optimistic attitude, that he'd almost forgot about the situation upstairs. When he heard footsteps above him, he grabbed Kisobi's hand and silently motioned everyone inside. "Let's make this quiet, okay?" he asked the two, and drew out the CD from his backpack.
"I hear footsteps, Yuugi…" Kisobi spoke with a slight fear in her voice. "Are you sure everything's okay?"
"Yes, it is," Atemu helped Kisobi's way onto the couch in front of the television. "Let's sit back, and enjoy the movie, okay?"
A smile curled upon Kisobi's lips. "Okay. I'm excited to hear the songs again!"
Yuugi loaded Disc 1 into the CD player, and set the TV to audio/video. "I haven't watched this in a while…" he sighed. "Wait—I've got some chips for us to eat!" He returned to his back, and drew out three bags of cheese chips. "Kisobi, is cheese-flavored okay?"
"My favorite!" she answered as the movie began. "Yay, it's starting! Yuugi, it's starting!"
"Shhh!" the pharaoh hissed beside her. "You have to keep quiet to hear the dialogue." Yuugi stared at him questioningly, and the older pointed upward, mouthing, "They might hear."
The boy smiled at his brother, and sat on Kisobi's other side, watching the movie together, eating chips. The volume was soft enough to hear in the silence, but Yuugi kept an ear alert to check on the noise above. They weren't audible enough to make out what they were saying.
Kisobi, however, was enjoying herself. She hummed with the songs, memorizing all of them, and sometimes wondered what the characters looked like. And Atemu took the time to explain, but he, too, began to take interest in the movie.
As the movie progresses, the voices lowered and lowered in volume, and soon, there was nothing heard as the Empyrean gradually picked up speed. Static was heard from the intercom in the corner of the room.
"Sorry about that," Zue's voice. "We've got the situation handled. Everything's alright; you can come out now."
"Without finishing the movie?" Kisobi pouted.
"We'll finish it next time, okay, Kisobi?" Atemu promised, taking her hand, and leading her outside, leaving Yuugi to turn off everything. The three members of Doma stood before him, and the pharaoh understood the look on Rafael's face: there was something not right.
They waited for everyone to gather up—the rest being surprised that Doma was aboard the ship—and climbed the stairs together.
Anzu, who was the first to reach the cockpit, searched for anything strange. Zue and La Madame were behind the wheel, and there were no signs of struggle anywhere. But she did stiffen at the new person aboard. "Who are you?"
"Ah." La Madame rose elegantly from her seat. "There is someone I want you to meet." She strolled to the newcomer: "This is Driam Jhaedizel, the overall general of our Air Force."
A ding came, and Tata emerged from the elevator. She was even paler than Zue when he first entered. "Cut the air force crap!" she said. "It's 'cause of you, the woman's forced to take the damn Empyrean on her own!"
"Tata, I came because I was worried," the man answered sternly, and when Kisobi reached the cockpit, he stared at her. "Heavens, she hasn't grown an inch!" he gasped.
Alarmed at this, Atemu threw himself in front of the girl, who was still oblivious to the whole situation, and asked for a mango. "What do you want from her?" he asked Driam.
A wicked smirk came upon La Madame's face. "Jaloux?"
"Jealous?" Zue stood up, translating the word. He looked at his twin, who bit her lip mischievously. "You wouldn't have a problem," he assured Atemu. "Driam has all rights to be here."
"Uh-huh," agreed Tata, holding out a fist. "One, he's the head general of the Jhaedizel Air Force," she counted with one finger, "two, he owns this ship, three, he's our boss—"
"Four, he is not only our boss, but the King of Jhaedizel," continued Zue. "And why don't her Grace state number five?"
With similar, arrogant expressions, both La Madame and Driam held out their right hands. An identical silver band was worn on their ring fingers.
"We're married."
A/N: Whoot, chapter six done! …Now to decide between Gackt Camui's handsomeness and Teppei Koike's cuteness…XD
DISCLAIMER I do not own the song. They are lyrics from Gackt's Mizerable.
ANTICIPATE! Married life between La Madame and Driam…and Atemu? Jealous? No way! ...Right?