Red Petals
Chapter Seven
"Is he alright?"
"Where did he come from?"
"I think he came from the sky."
"Look at those marks."
"Demons."
"Is he a captive?"
"Looks like it."
Yami felt his eyebrow twitch with irritation.
'Damn it! I'm bleeding and I just fell from the sky. Why are you all not doing anything about it! Bubble headed…dimwitted…' Yami thought angrily.
"We should report him to the seven Princes."
"Yeah…"
There was a pause.
"Well."
"What?"
"Aren't you going to go?"
"I thought you were going to."
'…I'M GOING TO KILL THEM; I SWEAR I WILL KILL THEM!' Yami thought, his teeth clenching together, his fist tightening. 'No, I have to calm down. Calm down…just imagine yourself tearing these assholes limb from limb.'
"I think he moved."
'No shit!'
In his impatience and pain, he let out a groan and casually turned over, his eyes snapping open.
Two very young looking male angels yelped as they jumped back and Yami saw, with relief, that both were angel's he'd never seen in battle.
Although he was disguised as a human, it would still be possible for angel's who have battled against him to identify him immediately. It would not do for him to become caught so soon.
'I guess I should be thankful that I was found by two airheads instead of one of the bastard princes.'
One was taller then the other and had strands of golden hair with the tips brushing the clouds they walked on.
The face was almost elfish with slanted almond eyes and high cheek bones that were pale with a hint of pink.
A loose white gown hung on the slim frame while the other was the complete opposite.
With short spiked brown hair, he looked like a stray dog with one left ear clipped with a hoop earring. The dog haired angel possessed narrow black eyes that made his face look snobbish.
From under the white tank top and loose white pants, Yami could tell he had a more of sturdy and husky frame.
Although the dog seemed to be the one to worry about if Yami was forced to attack them, they didn't give any indication that they would need to be knocked unconscious.
"You okay?" the blonde one asked.
'You think?'
"Help…attacked…demon…" Yami gasped and let himself "pass out" again.
"We better take him inside."
"Okay."
Silence.
"Aren't you going to take him in?"
"I thought you were."
'Stupid angels!'
I:I
A heavy sigh rang in the quiet room, as Yugi stared at the ceiling.
After escaping the dungeon, Ryou had shown him several other places that he'd enjoyed.
They were beautiful.
The falling stars were like a water fall from above, and the Garden of Eden held the blossoming colors of more then a million different flowers.
He enjoyed the new places of Heaven that he was able to gain access to, but he felt a nudging in the back of his mind.
Amet.
The demon still lingered in his memory and the guilt that he felt would not completely go away.
'I didn't betray Heaven…I didn't let him go…so why do I feel like this?' Yugi thought turning over on to his side.
Even the soft pillows and warm fluffy sheets of his new bed couldn't lure him to sleep. Tossing and turning, he finally gave up and let himself lay on his back, staring up at the darkened ceiling.
He was Yami's brother.
Yugi winced and covered his face with a pillow.
'He's still a demon, and I'm an angel now'
He was Yami's younger brother.
'Yami would understand.'
Yami's younger brother.
Yugi closed his eyes, covering his ears to try to block out the accusing voice.
'I'm an angel; I'm not supposed to be rescuing demons.'
Would you if Yami was in there?
Yugi didn't want to answer the question as the unfair answer surfaced.
"Yes," he whispered out loud to his invisible interrogator.
How interesting. You wouldn't help a demon, specifically Yami's younger brother, yet if it was him in the cell…you wouldn't think twice in breaking him out..
The voice in his head was starting to annoy him, but it did hold truth to his injustice reasoning.
Sighing, he rolled out of bed knowing he'd regret this later, but if he was going to relieve this guilt, he needed to do it now.
Slowly, he left his room.
It seemed the main dome room was sleepless, as it was still crowded with wandering angels.
Glancing from left to right, Yugi slowly made his way across the room.
His stomach turned as he tried not to nervously wring his hands and look around like he was some criminal that was going to be caught any moment.
Taking a deep breath, he shuffled passed several angels who were talking loudly before opening a door.
Yugi felt his heart pound in his ears as he stared into the black emptiness and took a step in with a blank mind.
He stepped into the cold stone floors of the dungeon, and with each step he took down the stairs, he, strangely, felt his guilt receding as his nervousness rose.
Pausing at the bottom of the staircase, Yugi wiped sweat off the palm of his hands and went to Amet's cell.
The cell was empty.
"Umm…hello?" Yugi called.
Fear gripped him.
Was he too late?
Did they already kill him?
"Hello! Amet! Amet!"
"Shut up will ya!" Amet suddenly snarled, appearing in front of him…upside down.
"AH!"
In surprise, Yugi stumbled back which caused himself to trip.
He landed with a thump on the ground, his rear stinging as the demon's dark eyes stared at him.
Like a bat, Amet hung upside down from the ceiling with his feet clinging to the chain as if they were a second pair of hands with the chain wrapping around his left leg.
"What?" the demon spat, his dark eyes narrowed.
Taking a deep shuddering breath, Yugi slowly crawled closer to the cell and sat down, coming face to face with the upside down demon.
"What are you doing up there?" Yugi asked curiously, looking up to see that instead of the chains being embedded into the wall, they went all the way up to a dark ceiling that seemed unending.
"Being a bat," the demon said sarcastically. "What do you think? The chains connected on my wrists and feet are bolted on the ceiling!"
"You're trying to break free."
"No," the demon said with sarcastic amazement before climbing back up like a spider and disappeared up in the darkness. "What are you doing here angel?"
"Uhh…well yesterday…I couldn't help feeling guilty for not helping," Yugi said, fumbling with his words.
"Wow, an angel felt guilty about not helping a demon escape. I think Hell just froze over."
"I left you when I could have helped. I came back because…even if I'm betraying the angels…I came to release you."
There was a pause from the tinkering up on the ceiling.
"And how…do you expect to do that? Do you have keys to the chains?"
"No," Yugi admitted, feeling stupid for forgetting.
"Then there's no point in you being here. Now leave."
"But I can't leave you here, you're Yami's little brother."
There was another pause, and Amet's face appeared again.
"So that's it. You came because I'm Yami's little brother, didn't you?" Amet asked with a mean smirk. "So if I wasn't, then you'd leave me to my death. What a nice little angel."
"That's not…" Yugi was about to shout but stopped.
How could he protest…when it was true?
Now he felt ashamed for coming down here.
The demon snorted before climbing back up to the ceiling.
"…You were crying?" Yugi asked quietly and, to his shock, Amet suddenly fell from the ceiling, crashing to the ground. "Are you okay?"
"What in the nine hells made you ask that!" the demon shouted, propping half his body up.
"I couldn't help notice how red your eyes are," Yugi said, pointing.
"…Damn it," he grumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"What happened?" Yugi asked quietly. "Did they hurt you?"
"Leave me and my damn humiliation alone. Not only have I've been captured by you angels, but I also broke down in front of the one person I loath the most."
"What did he do?"
"He damn kissed me!"
Yugi blinked.
"You cried because he kissed you?" Yugi asked, and couldn't help but laugh at that.
A demon crying because he was kissed…it seemed ridiculous and couldn't imagine demons crying over something so silly.
"Stop laughing!" Amet snapped.
"But crying over a kiss…" Yugi said, laughing.
"He made it so I couldn't go home!"
"By a kiss?" Yugi asked, with a raised eyebrow.
But his amusement died at Amet's pained face before the demon bowed his head, his dark hair falling over his features like a black curtain.
"Yes."
"But…it's just a kiss," Yugi protested.
"Look, this may be hard for your puny brain to understand, but in Hell you are forbidden to have anything to do with angels unless you're killing, torturing, or burning them. Kissing is only done once and that is done between a demon and his wife to seal a marriage bond. It is a sacred right that you save for your mate alone. We don't flaunt it like you and humans do!"
"That still doesn't explain why you can't go home. How will they know?"
"It's hard to explain. First you just smell something that doesn't belong in Hell, and then you find it on one demon…and just know. I don't know, it happened to me once and I can't remember how I knew. I just knew. The fool had some honor though. He didn't resist or beg for his life, but accepted it when my claws sliced his head off…"
"Oh, I see," Yugi said quietly. "So when you were kissed that means you can't go home or you'll be ripped to shreds by your fellow demons…but why is it so humiliating to be kissed by an angel?"
"You aren't listening are you?" Amet asked as he flipped back his hair over his shoulder to expose his eyes again.
The pain was gone and was replaced by a burning light.
"I said that we demon's kiss only one person on the lips and that is their wife. Their mate."
Yugi frowned for a moment then his eyes widened.
"Are you saying that once you kiss someone you're married to them!" Yugi shouted in astonishment.
"Shut up," Amet groaned as he covered his head. "It's an old tradition since before we went to Hell okay. The stupid Angel's may not know about it, but that's how things are to us."
"Oooh, no wonder you guys are humiliated if you get kissed. Not only are you bonded with an angel, but a male one too," Yugi said, proud of himself that he understood what he was being told.
"Thanks for the obvious update!" Amet snapped, and he grabbed the chains and climbed back up into the darkness of the ceiling.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to remind you of your humiliation!" Yugi shouted to the dark ceiling.
There was no answer, and Yugi sighed to himself.
He might as well just go back to his room.
There was nothing he could do since he didn't have the keys, nor did he even have a plan if he did manage to help Amet escape.
Feeling foolish, Yugi traced tiny circles in the dust on the hard cold floor with his finger and his small body shivered from a unknown chill that blew through the room.
It seemed strange that Heaven would even have a place that was so cold and dark.
From the stories he heard, from when he was younger, Heaven was supposed to be a place of beauty and light; a Kingdom of peace that was ruled by the seven Princes of Heaven.
The story was told to him often by his older brother, before he went insane and started killing angels.
"Amet, did Yami tell you stories when you were both younger?" Yugi suddenly asked and there was a 'thunk'.
"Ow! Damn it! Don't do that!" Amet snarled from above. "Why?"
"I'm just curious. My brother did when I was little."
"No. Even before Hell, he hasn't changed much," Amet mumbled.
"Really? You mean he acts like he does now even when he was alive?" Yugi asked.
Even if Yami did stay with him for quite a while, he knew almost nothing about the demon.
"Amet, has Yami's appearance changed? I mean, what did he look like when he was alive?"
"Nag, nag, nag," Amet snorted.
"Oh come on, don't be like that," Yugi said.
"It was a lot quieter before you found your way here."
"Come on, Amet. Don't you like talking about your older brother?" Yugi asked.
"I'm curious why you want to talk about him. He killed you, took over your body, and tortured your spirit till you finally died…"
"I know," Yugi said quietly, and smiled. "But he turned out alright in the end. It's too bad I died then though…"
"Don't tell me you're in love with my brother."
Yugi felt his cheeks heat up and his heart skipped a beat.
Was he?
"That…that's none of your business," Yugi snapped and was glad that the cells were dark to cover his red face, or at least hoped so.
"Geez. Why are angels so sensitive about expressing love, but flaunt kisses everywhere? You're all weird," Amet said as he came down from the ceiling and sat down across from Yugi. "The chains aren't giving any, so I guess I might as well pass the time talking, even if it is with a bubble headed angel."
Yugi's eyebrow twitched with irritation.
"Yeah, we pretty much look the same when we did when alive. Actually, nothing's really changed except we are bitterer and the climates a lot colder."
"But Yami has two forms. Which one does he resemble most?"
"The human one, accept his skin tone was darker…and he wasn't so damn tall either…" Amet grumbled.
Yugi smiled as he rested his chin on his folded arms around his drawn up knees.
"What was he like?"
"When alive? Okay, I guess. He liked to hunt a lot and play tricks on the sky people, especially the "Princes". You know the Seven "Princes" of heaven? They were such arrogant pricks. Yami's favorite one to harass was the eldest. Delios."
"What was he like growing up?"
"I don't know. I didn't meet him until he was thirteen."
"How come?"
"We're step brothers."
"What?"
"Oh come on, we don't exactly have any resemblance to each other!" Amet snapped in irritation.
"Wait, that means that one of you is the son of Satan and the other…isn't?" Yugi asked.
"Bingo."
Yugi frowned.
From the way Amet and Yami talked about each other, he assumed they were brothers but just didn't look alike.
And from the way they talked about Satan they both seemed to be his children.
"Which one is the real son of Satan?" Yugi asked.
"I wonder indeed," Amet said, biting on his pinkie nail, his eyes lost in thought for a moment. "Anyway, since I met him when he was thirteen he was one thing…no scratch that…two things. Reckless and stupid. One time he was riding on top of a lion and was actually laughing as he was bucked violently too and fro. But I guess it did earn him respect from the people for bravery."
"So, you and Yami never got along well?" Yugi asked.
"Hmmm…not at first, of course it was once sided. I didn't like him much, but he seemed to like me well enough. But as he grew older I learned to respect him, and…did become attached to him."
"You admire him a lot don't you?"
"Psh, yeah right," Amet grumbled and glared at Yugi's grin. "What are you smirking at?"
"It's cute how you try to hide your affection."
"C…c…cute?" Amet spluttered. "How dare you even put me in the same sentence as that word!"
"But its true…are you blushing!" Yugi shouted, as he went closer to the bars and laughed. "A demon's blushing!"
"Shut up!" Amet said, waving his hands. "Alright, I admit it! I…admire my older brother…in fact…I always craved for his attention and his affection."
Yugi's smile slowly died down as the seriousness of Amet's tone chilled the happy mood.
Amet stared at the ground, his eyes unfocused and Yugi reached through the bars and brushed Amet's hand.
"Amet?"
"I was jealous when my brother chose you over Hell," Amet said quietly. "I was jealous of you who changed my brother into someone I didn't know. I was jealous…that you were able to be someone he'd cherish."
Yugi felt his face heat up.
He wanted to protest that it wasn't true, but after what Yami said to him when he was in his arms, dieing, he couldn't help but agree.
Yami had said he didn't want to leave his side…that he was going to find him in Heaven and bring him back.
His eyes closed for a moment and pleasant warmth filled him at the memory.
A smile graced his lips, as he could see Yami's face within his mind.
When he reopened them, the warmth immediately left and his body started to ache.
He missed Yami…he wanted Yami…he lo-
There was a heavy thud of a bolt opening, and Yugi scrambled back in a panic.
As heavy foot steps came down the stairs, Yugi crawled backwards, as silently as he could, behind the column of stone that supported the staircase.
Covering his mouth to muffle his breath, Yugi slowly looked behind the column.
A tall angel with short brown hair slowly descended the stairs, his golden robes swaying slightly at his every movement.
Sharp brown eyes were narrowed and long fingers snapped, signaling two soldiers to follow him down the stairs.
Yugi sucked in a breath and turned to Amet's cell.
The cell was empty.
"Having fun being a bat?" the angel asked with amusement in his voice as he stopped in front of the iron bars.
There wasn't an answer.
"Let's not be a spoiled brat for once," the angel said with a wave of his hand. "Either you can be a good demon and come down here or I'll have to make it hard by having these two gentlemen chase you around the ceiling to bring you down."
"Oh goody, I haven't had the fun of playing tag since I was five," came a sarcastic remark form Amet.
"Let's be adults here."
"Why? Being mature is really over rated."
Yugi had to smile.
Amet seemed to have a sarcastic comeback for everything.
"Amet, I'm giving you three seconds."
"Hide-and-Seek…I don't think you've played that game since Yami chased you into the river by trying to get you to eat that adorable little…"
"I think a huge cockroach is far from adorable," the angel said in irritation. "And as much as I love to talk about our past together, the council would like to see you."
"The Trial of the Seven Princes, now isn't that an honor?"
"If I had it my way I'd kill you now, but the others don't seem to agree. Especially Halos and Gabriel."
"…"
"Now, come down so we can get this over with."
To Yugi's surprise, Amet suddenly dropped from the roof, landing more gracefully then when he last crashed to the ground.
Amet stood up with a straight back and his black eyes pierced the angel.
"Alright, let's get this over with."
:II:
Yami glanced through a half open lid as he heard bustling movement around the room.
After those two moron angels finally were able to get him help, he was taken somewhere inside and his wounds were quickly cleaned.
Once they were bandaged, Yami had taken that opportunity to observe his surroundings.
White…everything was white.
'Typical of an angel healing room,' Yami thought.
Slowly opening his eyes, he saw there was only one angel in the room but there were several patients.
From the severity of the wounds, Yami guessed these Angels were wounded in the most recent battle.
'Poor bastards,' Yami thought, as he saw one of them still had a demon's saw edged blade still embedded in the stomach.
The angel was moaning softly, as he grasped his decaying wound.
A young female quickly bustled to the suffering angel's bed, and Yami made the assumption that this was the nurse of the room.
Once she finished soothing the patient, Yami closed his eyes and pretended he was just emerging from sleep.
"Where am I?" he murmured, making his eyes wide with fear.
It worked.
She turned and gave a little 'Oh!' before coming towards his bed.
"How are you feeling?" she asked kindly, tucking a stray blonde lock behind an ear.
"Alright," he said and feigned confusion. "Where am I?"
"Heaven."
Yami widened his eyes.
"Heaven, I'm not dead yet!" he "panicked".
"Shhh," the nurse soothed, petting his hair as if he was a dog. "No, you aren't dead. We found you wounded at our gates."
"Yes…I remember a demon," Yami said, making his voice soft and meek. "And it grabbed me…I don't remember much after that…"
The nurse gently pushed Yami back down on the bed, tucking the sheets in as if he was a four year old.
It took much self control not to burst form his cocoon of sheets and smack the nurse for treating him like an infant.
"It's alright, you're safe now. Heaven will guard you from the unholy ones," she said and stood up to attend the other patients.
Yami snorted.
'Yeah right. I'm a demon and I penetrated Heaven just fine.'
Now that Yami was inside, it was time for the hard part.
It would be difficult to wander around Heaven, since it would seem odd for an injured human to be walking about.
He could steal a guard outfit, but then it would seem strange that he didn't have wings.
And since Heaven had that seal that stripped demon's of their powers, he was literally reduced to a human, which meant he couldn't use his sense of smell or hearing to find his Yugi or brother.
This would make searching even more difficult.
'Damn,' he thought in frustration, biting his pinkie nail.
"Oh, may I help you gentlemen," the nurse suddenly said.
"Is the young man awake?" came a deep voice and Yami froze.
Could the Angel's have discovered him after all?
"Yes," the nurse said, and Yami cursed her.
"May we see him?"
"No, he still needs rest."
Yami thanked her.
"We have papers from Prince Delios."
"Oh, he wants the young man to attend trail?"
"Yes."
'Shit, what for! I'm an innocent human victim of demons!' Yami thought.
"Then I guess I can't refuse your entry."
Yami cursed her.
'You're a nurse for Hell's sake! Tell them that your patient needs rest so get the hell out!'
Footsteps came towards his bed, and Yami slowly glanced upwards.
Two angels looked down on him with Delios' symbol on the breast plate.
'Fuck.'
"How are you feeling, sir?" One with a deep voice asked, and Yami slowly sat up.
If he was going to be taken in for an arrest trail, he might as well be in the best position to attack the guards when they least expect it.
"Fine, a little tired though," he said, a bit wary.
"You don't have to look so afraid, boy," the other one said with a softer voice and smiled. "We're just taking you down to the Trial Room to explain your story to Prince Delios. It is a cause for concern when a rare human is attacked by a demon and even worse that the demon dares to come so close to Heaven."
"Oh," Yami said, feeling his panic die down. "Well then, I'll let you angels lead the way."
"If you're still not feeling well," the soft voice guard said, but Yami was already out of bed.
"I might as well get it over now," Yami said with an innocent shrug.
Both angels nodded and led him from the room into a huge circular area with doors all round the ends.
There were hundreds, no thousands of doors!
How in the world would Yami find Yugi in this crazy place!
"What's with all the doors?" Yami asked casually, hoping the guards would just think him a curious human.
"There is a very large population of Angel's here in heaven," said one with the deep voice explained. "It would be very frustrating if the entire population of angels were only given one door to get to places."
Yami nodded, although he still didn't quite understand why they needed so many doors, and noticed everyone was rushing to a door.
"Why is everyone in such a hurry?" he asked, and suppressed a snarl as an angel almost ran over him before crashing into another angel.
"They want good seats to the trail," one soft voice explained. "It's rare for a trial to occur in Heaven."
Yami frowned.
"All doors lead to the trial?" Yami asked.
"No, no. You see all you have to do is imagine the place you want to go and go through a door and you're there."
"Oh, I see!" Yami said with a forced smile.
'That is really stupid.'
Turning his eyes away from the two guards, he scanned the rush of angels for a familiar boy.
If Yugi was in Heaven, then he should be going to the trail room too.
'Yugi where are you, damn it!' he thought with frustration, and shoved an angel out of vision as he thought he saw a flash of red and blonde.
To his disappointment, it was an angel who thought it nice to dye red streaks in her blond hair.
Yami wanted to tear her hair out.
Suddenly, his eyes caught the sight of red and black and turned his head to see the familiar boy.
His body froze as if suddenly rooted to the ground, the breath gone out of him as the boy glanced around the room.
Yes, it was Yugi.
The boy seemed to have gained some missing body parts in his death.
The once diamond eye was now replaced by a matching amethyst, the boy's golden hand was now crème skinned, and Yami could guess that the silver shin was gone too.
He was indeed an angelic sight.
"Yugi!" he shouted.
It did not seem the boy heard him, and old irritation flowed into the demon.
Irritation that Yugi was so close but could not be reached, and it was the damn noisy angel's that were at fault.
He was about to call again, but the guards suddenly grabbed his arm and yanked him through a door.
"Wait! Yugi!" he shouted.
"Sir, we're already late. We must hurry," the deep voice guard said hurriedly and Yami grinded his teeth.
He had a moment where punching the man in the face and attacking him with his claws was more important then not revealing who he really was.
But that would be stupid, and his father taught him a long time ago that demons should not be stupid, especially when there were already stupid species all over the world.
In defeat, he let himself be dragged into the Trial room.
:II:
Yugi trembled slightly as he hurriedly left the dungeon after the angels had escorted Amet out of his cell.
What were they going to do with him?
Biting his lip, Yugi made his way out of the room but once he stepped out a wave of angels suddenly forced him to move to the left.
Everyone seemed to be in a hurry.
"Excuse me…where's everyone going?" Yugi asked.
The angel looked at him as if he asked why he had wings.
"To the Trial. It's rare when a Demon is in our midsts. Now the bastard will get what he deserves," the angel said and Yugi felt himself grow cold at the cruel smile.
"What has he ever done to you?" Yugi heard himself ask.
The angel shook his head.
"He's a demon. Isn't that answering enough?"
"That's not fair."
"Look, kid, your starting to sound like a traitor," the angel accused.
"No, it's not that!" Yugi protested. "It's just that…did he do something? What did he do to receive your ill will?"
The angel laughed, running a hand through his golden hair, his brown eyes holding amusement in them.
"Simple, kid. Demons are cruel creatures that have been killing us for generations. There our natural enemies. They don't have to do anything for us to see because we already know how horrible they are," the angel explained.
Yugi frowned.
In truth, that sounded childish.
A child's ignorance.
The angel let out an exasperated sigh.
"Here come with me, and I'll explain it to ya. What's your name, kid?"
"Yugi…Yugi Mutou."
"Katsuya Jounouchi. Now, as I was trying to explain before…"
Yugi nodded to Jounouchi's words, although he didn't pay attention to much of them since they didn't make sense at all.
Both passed through the door, or at least Jounouchi did, but Yugi paused.
He had no idea what the Trial Room looked like.
People behind him bumped against his back from his sudden stop and grumbled for him to hurry up and go inside.
'…Shit.'
Face becoming red, Yugi tried to step aside to let the angels through, but the angels going through the other doors were blocking his path.
He was stuck…and he was blocking angels.
"Jeez kid, what did you stop for?"
Yugi jumped as Jounouchi's head suddenly came from the darkened doorway.
"Uh…em…I don't know what the Trial Room looks like," Yugi said quietly.
"What? Can't hear you!"
Yugi's face felt hot as he stared at his feet.
"I don't know what the Trial Room looks like."
"Oh, just imagine…some benches like the coliseum in Rome around a judge stand and a witness stand."
Yugi had no idea what those were.
Jounouchi gave him a look of disbelief.
"Don't tell me you don't know what those are?"
Yugi wanted to cover his face and turn into a puddle.
He could already tell some angels were snickering at him.
"Come here," Jounouchi said and Yugi obeyed.
Two fingers pressed against his forehead, and he saw images of a large wooden stand with small bars around it.
A chair was in the middle, and a smaller replica of the wooden stand in front of the first one.
There were three floors.
One located on the same floor as the two stands and two above it.
There were benches on the first floor, but the second and third was empty space.
When his eyes opened, he found himself standing on the bottom floor, looking up at the tall wooden stand.
"Wow…how did you do that?" Yugi asked in amazement.
"Tell ya later," Jounouchi said hurriedly and grabbed his arm. "Come on, before all the seats are taken!"
Yugi let himself be dragged towards the almost full seats and was impressed in Jounouchi's luck in finding two in the second row.
"Ha! My luck still hasn't failed me," he said with a grin, sitting down.
Yugi sat down hurriedly before an angel could jostle him from his seat.
He sat there awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do as the roar of chatter was rising in his ears.
Glancing behind him, he could see the seats behind him had fourteen more rows, each one slightly higher then the last.
'Could this room really seat all these angels?' Yugi thought with a frown, when the room fell silent.
Startled, he turned back around to see the angel, Delios, sitting within the taller stand (judge's stand) while Amet was within the smaller wooden one (the accused stand).
"Amet son of Satan, do you know why you are here?"
"Because I'm a demon."
"Because, you have slaughtered countless of our kind and have disturbed our ways of life countless times. When humans have thrived upon Mother Earth, you demons destroyed our churches and tormented our worshippers."
Amet rolled his eyes.
"Admit it, Delios, you're just pissed because I pushed you out of a tree when we were kids and you were dangling upside down…"
"This has nothing to do with personal grudges!" Delios snapped, and Yugi noticed that the angel's cheeks were red.
Embarrassment?
Humiliation?
Probably both.
"You are in our territory now, demon, and I can sentence you to your death with the snap of these fingers," Delios said, shaking his hand in Amet's direction.
Amet remained emotionless.
"Good for you. I can snap my fingers too, want to hear? Although it may be difficult since my hands are bond…"
"Silence," Delios snapped.
"Am I sensing a bit of hysteria?"
"Your punishment is to be decided," Delios continued, ignoring Amet. "I would love to behead you, but it has to be agreed by every one of my brothers. Two have decided to let you live."
"Pardon me that I don't burst into tears of gratitude."
"Another option was to keep you imprisoned for life. We would torture you for information, but demons have surprisingly strong wills and it would be a waste of time. Yet another option is slavery. Several demons have been spared death by being given a place as slaves among us angels."
"Cowards," Amet spat. "A real demon would rather die then become a slave to his most hated enemy!"
Yugi felt a chill creep up his spine.
Those words that Amet said…gave Yugi a bad feeling and the feeling became worse as he saw Delios form a slow smile upon his face.
The angel turned to the side where Yugi saw the most beautiful and majestic angels he'd ever think to see.
All six held some kind of essence of purity and authority that everyone else in the room lacked which clearly distinguished them as Princes of Heaven.
"A vote then, brothers. Shall we sentence the little bastard to a life of slavery?"
"I'd rather be locked in that disgusting cell…"
"Brothers?" Delios interrupted.
All six whispered to each other quietly, and the audience leaned forward slightly in their seats in anticipation.
Yugi tugged on Jounouchi's shoulder.
"What's going on?" he whispered quietly.
"Delios is the eldest brother of the seven princes, so he is the one who stands in the judge's place, but it is all seven who must agree on a decision."
"Why?"
"Tell you later," Jounouchi said, waving his hand. "They're about to speak!"
Yugi turned his eyes towards the smallest angel, who stood up.
"Brother," he said in a loud clear voice. "A possibility was thought of that the demon would be staked to the wall and left to slowly bleed to death. But after hearing the demon's fear, the idea of slavery is most appealing."
"Mother fucking…" Amet was about to shout, but the young angel interrupted as his blue eyes pierced the demon's black.
"He will become a slave to us angels."
Delios seemed unsure.
"Brother, before you say anything let me finish. We also thought it would be more of a punishment if he were to be the slave of one of us."
"One of you!" Amet shouted, and covered his mouth.
It seemed Amet was starting to learn that it would be better to keep his mouth shut.
Yugi bit his lip as Delios nodded.
"Which one of you will be willing?" he asked.
The small angel met Amet's eyes again and Yugi saw a smile appear on the angel's face.
But it wasn't a kind one.
"Mine."
Amet's eyes widened.
"No…no, anybody but you!" Amet shouted, and Yugi's eyes widened.
Amet's calm attitude had shattered and he looked on the verge of panic.
A roar of approval came from the audience, and Amet was dragged from the stands, kicking and screaming.
"Not him! Not him!"
"Wow, look at that demon," Jounouchi said with a laugh. "He looked as if he would wet himself."
Yugi couldn't answer.
"Silence," Delios said quietly.
The Trial Room's noise immediately stopped, and Delios nodded in approval.
"Bring the human to the stand."
"There's a human here?" Yugi asked Jounouchi.
"Yeah, they just recently found him near the Gates of Heaven. Can you believe that a demon had the guts to chase the guy all the way over here?"
Yugi frowned.
"But most of the human race is extinct," he protested.
"Most are extinct," Jounouchi said with a wag of his finger and a bright grin. "Which means that the lesser are alive!"
Yugi couldn't help but smile at Jounouchi's enthusiasm and optimism.
'If only there were more like him when I was alive,' Yugi thought sadly as he turned his eyes back to the stands.
His heart stopped.
Standing there, where Amet had stood before, was a young man of short stature.
His slim body was clad in loose white clothing and the unusual tri-hair colors stood out.
Violet eyes glanced around slowly until they met Yugi's amethyst.
"Yami," he whispered.
:II:
Earth was barren, with only a collapsing palace left upon its black ground.
The small population of people, who had once lived within the building, now lay strewn on the floor.
Hallways were covered with debris and blood, the staircase was covered in dust.
In the top hallway, a body was crumpled in a heap within a dry pool of blood.
The punctured holes, where claws had gone through him, had clotted and the bleeding had stopped days ago.
A small fly buzzed around the body, landing briefly on the corpse's nose.
Its wings fluttered every second as it jumped from left to right, its tongue tasting blood
Suddenly, eyes snapped open and a hand crushed the fly in the palm.
"Yugi...you little bastard."
:III:
Mijikai: Yeah, I haven't updated in a long time…I feel guilty. (Cries)
Yami: You liar! I still haven't reunited with Yugi yet!
Mijikai: You both made eye contact.
Yami: That's different then meeting them!
Amet: Stop putting me in this stupid story!
Mijikai: Why?
Amet: He's in there! I don't want to be near him! (Points to Gabriel)
Gabriel: (Smirks) You are now my slave.
Amet: And you made me his slave!
Mijikai: The plot thickens. (Laughs evilly)
Sorry that the chapters are coming so slowly, and I thank those who are still reading my stories. I'll finish them someday. (Sigh) Those of you who are not in High School yet, you are so lucky. I apologize for the crappy trial, I have no idea how one would really be. And the brief description was because Yugi didn't know what a judges stand was or the stand where the accused stood.
Review?