Consequences
Out here in the woods free of living nightmares, Jim had a sense of freedom he hadn't felt in a long time. The boy could run. Jim had to jog to keep up. They returned to camp with exactly one fish. Crow kept splashing around in the water and scaring them away. Jim had to cheat and grab one with his bare hands.
He started the campfire. He had already collected the appropriate amount of timber and simply struck a match. Crow oohed and awed. It was nothing really, but it had been awhile since the boy was outside. He found out early that Crow had never seen trees before either. He gutted the fish and put it to boil in a pot of water over the grate.
"So, are you having fun?" Jim asked. The boy threw a piece of timber into the fire and watched it burn.
"Yeah, it was funny when you fell into the river," Crow said. Jim scowled. The boy had snuck up on him. That and he'd been deftly afraid that he'd lost him at the time. Crow giggled. Well, at least, he hadn't really lost him.
"Good, we'll split the fish. I also brought some marshmallows for dessert," Jim told him. Crow clapped his hands together.
"Yay," he said, throwing another stick into the fire.
"Stop throwing the sticks so hard. You wouldn't want the forest to catch on fire would you?" Jim asked. Crow shook his head furiously.
Jim stuck a fork into the fish, white flaky bits showed. He cut it in half and gave Crow the other piece. Crow pecked at the fish with his fingers so he could avoid the bones.
"It's staring at me," he said, after a few minutes of nibbling on it.
"It can't stare at you. It's dead," Jim reasoned.
"You're staring at me," Crow said. Jim didn't have a response to that so he dropped the subject. The staring eye must not have bothered him too much because he still ate his half.
"Can we eat dessert now?" Crow asked. His motivation might be questioned though.
"Sure, but did you eat the fish just so you could have marshmallows? I packed other food," Jim said.
"Martha always said to eat the main meal before dessert. Then, she would smack me with the ladle if I didn't," Crow explained.
"Ah," Jim said and handed him a marshmallow on a stick.
"Now, you don't leave it in the fire too long, just enough to burn the edges," Jim told him. The marshmallows curled into brown charcoal lumps. Crow stuffed his into his mouth.
"Hmph, homph," Crow gargled. Jim handed him some water. Crow drank it and rubbed his throat.
"Are you okay?" Jim asked.
"I want another one," Crow said. It was a good enough answer for Jim.
"Okay but wait for it to cool next time,"Jim said.
Jim let him eat four. Crow didn't say much in between. Crow turned his attention to the darkening woods and pointed.
"Look, it's a bear with two cubs," Crow exclaimed. They weren't close enough for Jim to bother scaring them. They were heading elsewhere.
"Do you think she has a third one?" Crow asked.
"Well, sometimes they do, this one doesn't seem to," Jim said.
"Oh," Crow said. He had an idea of what the boy wanted to hear.
"Well, if she did have three, she would take care of all of them. Mother bears have strong maternal instincts. It's certain birds that sometimes abandon their young when they have too many" Jim said.
"Asuka's a bird," Crow said. Idiot, he shouldn't have added that last part. Sometimes he was no better than a nature documentary. There was still time to do some damage control.
"She's not a real one," Jim said. The boy didn't seem very appeased. He warmed his hands over the fire. The bears were long gone.
"Sometimes, I don't think she likes me very much," Crow said.
"Nonsense, she loves all of you," Jim assured him. She did try to strangle him when she lost both him and Jack to Martha.
"I'll do silly things like I do, and she'll look me like I tore her heart out," Crow said. He went ahead and let him have another marshmallow.
"That has nothing to do with you," Jim said. Crow nodded. There didn't seem to be a way for Jim to personally cast away his doubts. So, Jim changed the subject. The boy talked about his time in the orphanage for a while. Edo's money seemed to have done quite a bit of good. It wasn't a particularly sad story.
You have to go back now, Chacu Challhua demanded.
Why? Jim did not see any reason to go back now. They never really needed him for much, unless no one else knew how to cook, and there was always takeout.
Something terrible has happened. Jim packed quickly
"What's wrong?" Crow asked. He didn't want to worry him.
"Your mom missed you. She wants us to come back early," he lied. It seemed to help.
Manjoume sat in his chair behind the mahogany desk and wrote his third attempt at a proper love poem. The first one was fine. The second superb. Nothing wrong with either really, but it had to be perfect.
What you are doing is unhelpful. The other guy practically let her die, and she still likes him better than you. Uru's old man voice disturbed his amusing day dream, one he very much hoped would come true.
Stay out of my way, Uru. It doesn't concern you. Manjoume dismissed him promptly. He didn't quite like the third one either.
Oh but it concerns me deeply when Aslla Piscu's servant humiliates you. Let me help, Uru insisted. The fourth one was promising, and he had to spill ink over it at Uru's suggestion. He couldn't possibly remember all of it again.
No. As far as he was concerned, it opened too many possibilities for the god to utterly destroy her. To be honest, he had prayed for Judai's death more than he cared to admit.
You're an impossible love struck fool. He retreated, crawling away into his subconscious, where he might find like-minded stray thoughts. The death gods never wanted to push. They somehow always did anyway.
"We would like your attention if you do not mind," A voice he did not recognize called him. He looked up, nothing. The tone had been formal, eloquent. He had heard it many times before during social events in the pro leagues. The lack of anyone only gave him a moment's pause. After all, he was the strange thing in this universe. A god's vessel was hard to top.
"Oh, I would personally love to break your neck like you did ours, but apparently, there are certain rules for these kinds of things," He heard a different voice this time, gruff, much like his own which didn't care much for decorum. He looked up again, nothing. He had an idea of what he was dealing with now. He had only broken two guys' necks ever.
"Show yourselves," he demanded. The yell echoed down the halls. They faded into existence looking solid. Rudger leaned over his desk. Okay, so, they were solid.
"Hello," Manjoume hadn't really thought of them. He didn't know what else to say really.
"We just want to have a word," Rex said. Manjoume nodded. They had already revealed they couldn't hurt him. What did he care?
"So, are you here to show me the error of my ways?" Manjoume said.
"Oh no, things were going to hell long before you showed up," Rudger said with a smile that resembled a tiger's snarl, obligatory and insincere.
"We are here to deliver a message from the Crimson dragon," Rex said. He paid them more attention now and sat straighter than before. This was a first. Rudger read one of his poems and laughed. He punched him in the face. The man dropped to the ground. Manjoume hadn't expected it to work. He retrieved the poem and put them all in a drawer in his desk. Rudger tackled him down after he closed it. His current physical form could withstand a lot of damage, but Manjoume gasped from the sheer surprise of the weight on top of him.
"I thought you couldn't hurt me," Manjoume complained mostly out of principle. Rudger leered at him and let loose a large throaty chuckle.
"I get one for every one you make. They are fair up there," Rudger explained, reluctantly letting him go. Manjoume stretched, something cracked. He swore, in Incan of all things.
"Do feel free to try again at any point," Rudger said with an air of superiority that he recognized in himself. Manjoume did not risk another encounter with the man, considering they were the messengers of the one thing that could kill him. Rex cleared his throat, and wiped the sweat from his face with a napkin before tucking it in his shirt pocket, an odd gesture for a ghost to make. It was odd that he sweated at all.
"Since you have seen fit to strip the signers' of their power, the dragon has been forced to dishonorably seek assistance elsewhere," Rex dictated. Truly, there was no passion to it at all.
"Are you sure you don't want to get a punch in?" Manjoume asked. Rex had been so polite and formal. Where were the rage and grief?
"Jun, you are something to be pitied, not despised. I hold no hard feelings for something you did under Uru's influence," Rex said.
"Don't call me that, and I'm doing just fine, thank you," Jun answered curtly.
"Of course," Rex smiled. It resembled Edo's (I know more than you do) smile. He didn't appreciate it.
"Now, before we go, the dragon wants to be sure you know whom you will be facing," Rex said. Really, he was saying everything. He wondered why Rudger came at all. He rubbed his stomach. Actually, he had pretty good idea. He also knew they wouldn't leave until he showed some level of comprehension. The gravity of the implication didn't escape him. It went against everything Asuka hoped for. Everything she thought would make her happy.
"Judai," he whispered. Rex nodded and started to glow. Hollywood could never emulate such an ephemeral glow, it both chilled and enthralled him.
"You can tell him as we agreed," Rex gestured to Rudger before blinking out of existence.
"Now, Mr. Fudo dropped by to see your girl for personal reasons. I can tell you now that their encounter will not be as pleasant as ours," Rudger whispered as if indulging in some ideal gossip over tea. Manjoume's confidence faltered, and his face was not jagged but rounded as he considered the snippet of information. He really did not have a feel for how well Asuka would take that. Rei had revealed to him her worries at Asuka's often abrupt rejection of Crow. All would be well until he would tell some joke or other. She would stand, leaving him in tears after her repeated escapes. He had faith that whatever bothered her would fade with time, but if she was instigated, it could get worse. He wasn't finished. Rudger circled him. The difference in their height naturally made him appear more like the carnivore in this situation. For once, Manjoume wished he was taller.
"He's what we call a malevolent spirit. Too bad, he used to be so nice before your lot got to him," Rudger paused to clean his finger nails. For a moment, he saw the whites of his eyes turn black and mirror his own. It passed. A simple shadow of what came before. It occurred to him that he knew the extent of his capacities as he had played both sides.
"He is not under any obligation to follow the guidelines given to us. Best of all, you are not allowed to leave this room until he is done. Have a nice day," Rudger said, before following his brother in the same flash of blinding light. He really hadn't expected him to take the same path up.
Manjoume tried to open the door anyway. A rush of spiritual energy flowed through him and knocked him to the other side of the room. The chalkboard he kept in his room(Mostly as a novelty) wheeled forward. The chalk moved of its own accord and spelled out the following phrase: Relax, I only wish to speak to her. He closed his eyes and leaned back. He would have to take his word for it.
Asuka knew she had been an irritable grouch today, but she slowly lost her steam. She hoped Rei had not taken her words too seriously. She could hear her sobbing as she walked past her door. Asuka would talk to her later when the girl would be more likely to listen. She went to bid her children goodnight. She started with Jack. He wasn't asleep, not even close. He lay flat on his stomach, playing a video game. The knight chopped a knave's head off on the screen.
"Goodnight Jack," she stressed the word goodnight. He turned around.
"I had good reasons for chopping his head off," Jack said. She didn't move from the door way. He hadn't liked it when she kissed him good night last time.
"I'm sure you did," she said, turning around. With Jack, the hands off approach was best. She had to pick her battles.
"Wait," Jack said. She stopped. He shut down the game and got into the sheets.
"I'm ready," he said. Perhaps, she had been wrong. Asuka came closer. She tucked the sheets in and pecked him on the cheek.
"Yuck," he said, sticking out his tongue.
"Okay, I won't kiss you on the cheek next time," she promised. He raised the blanket so only half his head showed and closed his eyes.
"Why?" he said, somewhat muffled by the blanket on top of him. She didn't know what to make of it. Maybe, it was simply Jack's way. She turned off the light and closed the door.
Next, she visited Crow's room. The door ajar, she saw only an empty bed, perfectly ordered with all the earthbound immortal stuffed animals lined in a row. She had forgotten.
"Good night . . . Please be safe," she said and shut his door. She trusted Jim. She had to.
When she went to Aki's, she found Aki already asleep, holding Yusei, so much for that talk they had.
"Do you need help getting out sweetie?" she asked. He was perfectly nestled in between some pink pillows Rei had picked out. Yusei looked at Aki.
"Can I keep her?" he asked. It was an odd question, and she didn't know how seriously to take it from a two-year old.
"Sure." She found the sincerity charming. It wasn't like Edo was in hearing distance anyway. She put a blanket over them. She kissed each one on the cheek. He did the same to her and Aki.
"Could you close the window so the sand monster won't come in?" he asked. She closed the window and left the two of them alone.
Everything had fallen into place. The surmounting pressure vanished. She really only had one or really two more kids to go. Once again, her body lay smooth in the silk bed sheets as if barely sculpted by Michelangelo. With the kids gone, she finally had a chance to read for pleasure for a change. The lamp light went out. Strange, Edo would not have hired shoddy contractors.
Asuka put the book down. She would call the electrician tomorrow. Whatever remained of her brain's physical facilities begged for sleep, a dreamless oblivion to separate one day from the next. Someone sat in the corner of her bed. He had Yusei's haircut but he was much too tall to be Yusei wanting to crawl into the covers. Perhaps, she had blinked and missed him grow up.
"I haven't seen you in awhile," the man said. She wasn't comfortable laying down while he was here. It would be much harder to defend herself from a horizontal position. She stood and was glad that her brother's taste's in women's night gowns hadn't rubbed off on her. The black cotton fabric went all the way down to her ankles and covered everything nicely.
"No need to get up on my account, I certainly didn't it," Mr. Fudo turned and revealed the large bloody gash on his person. The viscous red oozed down onto the stone floor and slipped into the cracks. The speed at which it fell seemed unnatural and forced. The copper smell stronger than it should be. She wanted to throw up, but she had learned to push down the feeling long ago.
"Why are you here Mr. Fudo?" Bleeding on my floor, she added silently. He looked down at the gash and touched it gingerly.
"It is rather disgusting isn't it? He clapped his hands, and the gash disappeared. She could still picture and smell it from before. She wondered if she touched the pristine coat, would the blood stain her hand? The blood hidden under some magical charm. Judai had definitely pulled that trick more than once.
"The gate was open. I simply walked inside," Mr. Fudo explained. The card, the hexagram, the wispy heart, the stupid smile on her face. I'll kill that stinking witch.
"I see. I meant why did you want to see me," Asuka elaborated. He dropped his nonchalant demeanor. The moonlight slipped from his face leaving only the dark shadows. There was no chance of reading his expression after that.
"Do you even have to ask?" Mr. Fudo murmured. His son, the gash, did he see him while he practically bled to death all over again?
"Have you seen him?" she asked. She imagined Yusei wide eyed, frowning as he asked, Daddy? If she ever wanted to introduce him to his real father, it was not blood stained and ghostly. The unknown state of her son filled her with a sudden sense of urgency, an emotion stronger than she had felt in a long time. Her stomach grumbled, rejecting the potency of it. His coat disappeared replaced with a black body, not skin but black energy itself.
"Please, tell me he didn't see you like this," she said, softly. The face turned away from her. She could read the pure misery of his aura. The pressure of it almost drowned her. She let loose shallow breaths and stepped as far from it as possible. She grabbed the door handle. A jolt of the energy invaded her. The heaviness of it paralyzed her and she dropped to the ground.
The lizard has betrayed us. Aslla Piscu seethed. The creature stared past her, beyond her, to what was inside.
"I don't want to see you," the thing said, and he was simply gone, inaccessible. Asuka shivered. She might as well be naked. There was no longer a wall of black magic to insulate her from this abstract form of despair. Strangely, the black surface melted away to Mr. Fudo, same as before, a tanner, cyan-eyed version of her son, oh yeah, in a lab coat. He offered her his hand. There wasn't any aura of any kind left to speak of. He simply existed, and only his apologetic face gave her any indication of his intention. She took his hand. Somehow, she remained unspeakably heavy. She leaned into him. He steadied her. She couldn't think, her head lacked substance as if empty without Aslla Piscu.
"Of course I haven't. I tried. She wouldn't let me," Mr. Fudo said, looking at the stars in the open window. The stars? The dragon, then, Rei was probably blubbering from dealing with Johan. (Who else?) Considering what attached to him, she didn't blame the dragon for wanting him uninvolved. The dragon was dying inside them. The spirit might have been enough to finish it off.
"She's not done with them," he added. She laughed, a deranged laugh that lasted far too long and lacked any reason for bubbling to the surface. Without her god, there was nothing to shield her, but then again, all these spirits out to get her only had the power of suggestion. They could fling her straight into the city pavement miles away, and she would still exist. The thing may have blocked Aslla Piscu out, but the fact she didn't join the dust outside was enough to prove he still existed. And her children? They were afraid of the Crimson Dragon. The thing had no cards left to play.
"What? She's going to be their nightlight for all eternity?" she remarked snidely.
"Rarely, does the dragon choose to intervene with its human vessels, especially on such trivial matters. She thinks humans are capable of doing a lot by themselves," he informed her while projecting an image of the beast before her. The initial blackness had vanished, and she almost felt as if she were attending lectures again with a professor she didn't entirely connect with.
"I never understood why the dragon doesn't just tell them what's wrong if she's so desperate." Not that she wanted that but she always wondered. Her god did not hesitate to say anything to her. The dragon seemed far too primitive to grasp that evolutionary step. See that lady over there you're calling mom? She's trying to kill me and destroy the world, help. How hard could that be?
"It does not speak directly with them by choice. She feels it prevents deceit and promotes good will, however, when it is absolutely necessary she sends an envoy," he finished.
"Are you that envoy?" she asked. The black substance that escaped him made her think twice about that conclusion. She briefly had that raw power within her. The entire being was nothing but pure light, the good light. The warmth and wholeness she felt almost made her fall apart, to join with it was to disintegrate into the sands below. He surely wasn't part of that all powerful light. She would have known instantly.
"No, I just hate it when young people are misinformed," he stated. She never thought of it as an intelligent being, to her it had simply always been in the way. Its reasons where enlightening to say the least. She still found it inferior for they had caught the dragon, completely and utterly, and it might as well be their embittered pet lizard.
"Now, to why you're really here, are you worried he is learning Latin because it's a dead language? Or that he's dissecting frogs at such a young age?" she said. The change in topic caused a momentary lapse in his formal facade. He was trying very hard not to smile. She considered vaguely how hard it would have been to take his son if the situation had been in his favor and not hers. The back and forth banter alone initiated a mild headache. The mother, she didn't even want to know her, for she must also be impossibly intelligent.
"You're a fine teacher Asuka. I'm more concerned with his moral education." Clearly, he wasn't talking the small things like vandalism and thievery that Yusei wouldn't do anyway. He's talking about her very way of life.
"Oh, that he's praying to death gods, and I'm teaching him to fear the very thing that would save him from being a recluse in a castle forever?" she asked as if she really didn't know.
"Exactly," he seemed relieved at her cooperation. Just as she thought, he was the type of professor that she could butter up with jokes and clever quips. He wasn't one, but he fit the archetype.
"I can't help you. You are the frog, and I am the scorpion. I will sting you," Asuka shrugged. She never had anything against him. Only, she had the inclination to steal his son away. They could have been great friends if she hadn't, assuming his friend never shot him or the million of other things stacked against him didn't happen.
"Then, you force me to be cruel," he said. The change was subtle. Frankly, she noticed it because of her past experience with Ryo, back when he still had his kingly pride. The voice would become quieter, the stare more serene, and the stance more relaxed. Deep down, he wanted to slap the person, hard.
" I don't think you can be," she replied honestly. The black thing couldn't have been him. She had a feeling he was as creative as her son. His strikes wouldn't be so direct and crude. The man that had kept her talking instead of crying out to the others was smarter than that.
"You're a horrible mother," he told her flatly. His opinion didn't matter, much. She didn't like that he thought so little of her, but it couldn't affect her. Mr. Fudo was dead. His son wasn't going anywhere. He had no control over the situation at all.
"You are raising him to idolize death, and therefore, he will want to be like you. He will want to die," he pushed her to the ground. The heaviness made it impossible to get up. No witty comeback surfaced. Her mind was an empty box labeled: evil god wanted. The thought tainted her perfect vision of all her children asleep in bed, the Great Gatsby waiting on the table side, and the happy future she should have by now. In what world does the beloved aunt summon a ghost to haunt the mother? She wasn't happy. Someone told her that. She couldn't remember who.
She lay there curled up, thinking, thinking, nothing. Who was she? She never wanted children. That's right, but who would say that? After all this time and effort, who would say that? It was her god that suggested it, not her. The boy, the little orange hair boy, she couldn't stand him. His grating laugh. The stupid nonsensical pranks. His damn obsession with things that fly. The cocky grin that reminded her so much of . . . She was a horrible mother.
Mr. Fudo waited. He could have stabbed her with the scissors on her desk, but he wouldn't. He's a nice man. Jim was a nice man. He didn't hate her son like she did.
Yusei . . . she . . . she did love Yusei. She didn't want him to die. His little hand had gripped her finger. He had called her mommy.
"No, I won't let him," she said finally. She kept him waiting for a while. He looked startled when she finally spoke. He jumped a little, floated off the ground, just enough for a normal person to think they were going crazy if they'd seen it, but no, she was possessed by a death god talking to a ghost. He's expected to float in mid air. Mr Fudo was all business again. He's just like Rudger and Rex. Ruthlessly whittling away at his opponent until he gets what he wants. She should have suspected as much, look how awful they turned out to be. Still, he's a nice man; he smiled at her. In fact, his smile was too large. It made him look possessed, but that's silly he's the ghost, and she's the possessed one.
"Do you think Aslla Piscu wouldn't love that?" he tells her. She raised her head. It's all she can raise. She feels much too weighed down. How could Judai handle so much darkness inside him? The burden screwed with her head to the point that the man started making sense. She remembered how enamored the god was by Yusei's genuine interest. The humming bird wanted to be loved but never was. It was why it chose her so they could both be loved scorned together. So, he can't be loved if she's not. It wouldn't be fair.
"He wouldn't touch him. He's mine," she yelled. The pitch sounded like a little girls whine when someone tried to take her doll. She pursed her lips defiantly. She scrutinized this white coated man. Who wears a lab coat when they're dead honestly?
"Like he didn't touch Aki," Mr. Fudo added. He so wouldn't know when to shut up in dinner parties. His wife must have hated him explaining the physics of combining atoms together to someone who asked what's up. She shook her head all the same. He wasn't considering all the facts. Aki was being difficult. She's better now. The bird did a good thing. It's her birdy. It's keeping her alive. She never wanted to die in the first place. He poisoned her. It's his fault. She's throbbing, overheating. She wanted to rip the clothes off. She can't. He's here, and he won't leave.
"She's alive" she said.
"For now," he replied. It's true. It's not hard to take her over should Asuka prove a bad choice in the long hall, just add a drop of poison to her zippy cup. Would she have a little rose tattoo then? A pink highlighted robe? She doesn't say anything. Her insides are churning. She can picture the soup just spewing out. She held her stomach and groaned.
"And out of all the respectable choices in the castle, you choose the one father figure that will never be there. You know how much that pisses me off," He crouched down so he was at her eye level. She already knew it was a mistake. Judai was never the right choice for her. She could have had anyone else, but she never wanted anyone else, not to this level of obsession. There was that one guy she had a crush on when she was ten. He used to buy her ice cream Mr. Jacoby. Of course, he had a red tie. It was all coming together.
"It . . . it slipped out. I didn't think," she said, crying. The tears were coming down in threes and fours. He's waiting because he's a nice man. She would have thrown him out already if he was blubbering. He can't see his son. It's her fault. She can't even give Yusei a real father. She's a horrible mother. Why doesn't Mr. Fudo know when to shut up? Was he just too brilliant for anyone to say anything? She wanted to strangle him, but she can't even stop the contractions that made her hiccups sound like an ailing horse. She can't breathe, but she doesn't need to. Asuka's never thought to stop. It's a bad habit like smoking.
"Of course not, Aslla Piscu does it for you," Mr Fudo said. The words were cold like his dead wife hands. The one's she pried Yusei away from. She's a horrible mother. Asuka can't even remember the lady's name. She doesn't want to say anything else. He'll just turn it against her, but he kept waiting like a nice man. He handed her a tissue. She blows. Nothing comes out, because she was just a pile of sand waiting to happen.
"No, he just advises me," she said. The presence was always there, but Aslla Piscu does not talk constantly. It picked its battles.
"No, he tells you what to do, and you agree," Mr. Fudo said. She disagreed once. It cost her dearly. It's still her choice. That's perfect. She'll tell him that.
"I have a choice," she said. He smirked. It twisted coyly and teased her in its knowledge, and she wished dearly that Yusei would never smile like that when he's older. She doesn't want to hate another son.
"Can you see Judai?" he asked. Yes, of course, Piscu promised. Even if it killed all her sons and told her what to do, he had to do that for her at least.
"Later," she said. It's what the bird said. She had to believe it. At least, the nice man told her Judai was alive. So what if he tried to kill her, everyone one of her friends already had.
"When?" he asked with the same smirk. Mr. Fudo was never like this when he was alive was he? She's sorry. It's her fault. She didn't call an ambulance. It wouldn't have done much good but still.
"I don't know," she said. The contractions hadn't stopped. She butchered the sentence. He still understood it.
"What kind of choice is that?" he said. The only one she had. She did not know where he was. The man wasn't really listening. He's stabbing with her with a hot poker and ignoring her squeals as if she were a pig. Mr. Fudo was not very nice at all. She should have realized it sooner.
"Shut up," she shouted. Why had no one come? She was yelling rather loudly.
" Yusei will leave you. They all will. Deep down you know it. You've dreamed it," he told her. Mr. Fudo can read thoughts. She should have known. She should have known a lot of things, but she's sick of him waiting like a vulture to pick at her.
" It was a stupid accidental dream. There is no shrimp in the desert," she yelled. The heaviness had come into her brain. It didn't catch the stupid rationale of her last sentence. She doesn't correct herself. He'll nit pick. Mr. Fudo stopped looking at her. It's a relief.
"When I held him for the first time, he squirmed. He won't stay put. We tried. Martha tried," he mutters. She can keep up. She will be young forever. He wanted to work all the time. Martha had too many kids to follow.
"They love me. They won't leave me,"she said. They adored her. They followed her every chance they got.
"Oh, didn't they love Martha? They left her for a pack of cards each," he said. It hurts. She was happy then or was she ever? Was he ever a nice man?
"What is wrong with you?" she screamed out. Please come, Jun. I need a nice man to come. I know I've been a mean lady. Please come anyway.
"What is wrong with you that you never thought of any of this?" he yelled right back. She curled up next to the door shaking. He doesn't wait anymore.
"Once better things come along, they'll forget the toys, the castle, your love," he said. It's like the dragon was ripping at her flesh. It's so hot. She replaced the castle with the house and your with my. He was talking about himself, what a bitter man. Yusei wasn't old enough to love you.
"They'll leave for college, to the pro-leagues or maybe, they'll just want space away from the inhuman creature that has been breathing down their necks all these years," he looked just like her boy, but he's more monstrous than the black sludge. If he ever found out what she did, will Yusei yell at her like this? She thought about what he said. It doesn't make sense. He's not even that smart anymore.
"You just said that he'd want to be like me. Your not making any sense," she said, in semi high pitched squeaks and low murmurs. She's trying not to be emotional. Then, she'd be like all the other girls that broke down and cried, weak and hopeless.
"It is all possible. I just want you to think about what you're doing, what you are dragging my son into," he said this like a father, a scared one. She nodded. The fear made him spout such venom. It's not the fear of a father for his boy. She caught his mistake. He's not an angel. He never was.
"You're going to hell aren't you?" she said. Mr Fudo falls to the ground. He's heavy too.
"What?" he asked, baffled and speechless. Why do they have to look alike? Asuka almost hated to keep going. Her son came from him. She's damning her son. She was a horrible mother.
"That's where that thing came from isn't it?" she demanded. He's finally speechless. His eyes were wide like when Yusei just wanted to shut himself away and hide. He's not saying no.
"He was supposed to redeem you, but I took him away," she said. She remembered something, now that he gave her time to think. He slapped his son. He's not a good father at least.
"Without him, you helped kill millions of lives and have nothing to redeem yourself with. He's my evil baby now. That sounds hell worthy to me," Asuka said with a giggling laugh that grew deeper and richer with every breath.
"You are just as selfish as I am," she said. Mr. Fudo shook his head.
"Poor lost soul, you don't know what's coming to you," he said matter of factly. He was not trying to antagonize her anymore. He's withdrawn and quiet, just like his son. She can't hate him. She can't hate her sons, but he's not. The man wanted to destroy her and have him tell her what to do.
"Go ahead, nothing you say will hurt me," she said because it was already hurting her.
"Really, I already see it, festering," he remarked. In his eyes, she can see he thought he won. His grin widened. His teeth were so white compared to his tan skin that it dazzled her, enough to give her a headache. Please, don't let Yusei turn out that way, always lying with his smiles.
"Just tell me," she said with a sigh. She's tired and doesn't want to hear anymore. The scorpion was out of poison, and in truth, it fought with another scorpion.
"When the crimson dragon feels truly threatened, it sends the person you cherish most to destroy you," he told her. Kiryu, Carly, but what he said doesn't add up for everyone, it was enough to plant a seed of doubt in her last stronghold.
"Judai. He wouldn't-" she started to say. Asuka lost the advantage. He wasn't out of poison.
"Eh, wait, you're evil. He won't defend you. He'll help destroy you," he said again. The man stood and peered down at her. She imagined he wouldn't think twice about throwing her into Momentum's reactor.
"No," she said. Judai wouldn't do that. So what if he slipped up a few times? He shouldn't know about that.
"He's destroyed you once already. You're lucky that it didn't actually kill you, but you're already dead. Do you think you'll be so lucky a second time?" he said. She hated the universe's infinite knowledge and that this man had access to it. He kept twisting her insides, and she can't twist back.
"You've never won against him," he said. True, some sand comes inside. She tries to push herself further into the corner. She doesn't want to disintegrate and get mixed in with regular sand.
"Shut up,"she said.
"You've never changed his mind," he said. If she had, she would be dead by now, but maybe, she would have lived a happy life in her lifetime. She couldn't. When did she ever take the uncomplicated route? She's talking to a ghost. She tried to bring the world into the god awful light. She picked the wrong boy.
"Go away," she whined. Her eyes were dry. She doesn't have enough water left in her system to cry. She doesn't drink that much of it. The only thing left was the energy keeping her alive. She wanted this man to go away. She doesn't want Yusei to meet this man.
"He's not your son. He doesn't even know your name," she said in a shriek that only a girl ever can manage. It's the first time it has ever come out of her mouth.
"Not even when it mattered most, it's funny. You never know what to do when it matters most," Mr. Fudo said. His eyes were on the sunrise. The magic was gone. He can't stay. She can sense the heaviness leave, and the emptiness that remained. Aslla Piscu filled it quickly.
"Goodbye and please, think about what I said, even a little," Mr. Fudo said. He faded into the stars and rising sun. For once, she couldn't hear what her god was saying.
Rei busted inside, her eyes red from past tears. She wrapped her arms around her, firmly and tenderly. It's too late. The doubts were buried deep inside. Only she can unravel them piece by piece.
"It's terrible," Rei wailed. She already knew she was horrible mother. She's tired of hearing it.
"Rei, wait, we have no idea what state she's in," Jun said. Why couldn't he have come sooner? She can't appreciate it now.
"Fubuki's slipped into a coma. The spell I did . . . it, and the condor made him . . . I'm sorry," Rei sobbed into her nightgown. Asuka snapped. She ripped the nightgown off and stood. Jun's mouth hung open. The apology he wanted to say never came. Jim brought Crow inside. He wished he didn't. He covered Crow's eyes quickly. She can't register it. She screamed at all of them to get out. She threw things, the book, the lamp, and the picture of Judai winking in that charming way of his. Her own insignia burned on the ground, and the picture disappeared into it. With the magic gone, the place was no longer sound proof. The other children heard and peered through the doorway. The initial fear returned to Jack and Crow. Aki had never seen her this way and can only think of the word monster. They're alike, Aki wondered if some day she will be the same. Jim ushered them away. The witch that started it was too exhausted to calm her and heeded Asuka's cry for privacy. Rei pushed through the flames, letting part of the robe burn off. The need for proper courtesy had passed. Ryo waited for her in the hallway. They left together. Jun came closer. He tried using the sheets on the bed to cover her, but the insignia burned it. Uru kept him clothed. He whispered the first word of thanks he's ever given the creature. He asked for one more favor. Uru granted it. The next sheet wrapped around Asuka without burning off. She cried and clung to him in lieu of her brother. He said nothing. She kissed him.
"Not like this," he whispered and pushed her away.
She cried some more and said, "I want to see my son, Mr. Fudo."
He didn't know what to say to that so he held her again. She clung to him willingly. It's everything Jun ever wished for at the worst possible moment. He hated himself for enjoying it. Edo looking equally drained glanced at the two. Jun waved him away. He nodded and kept walking. Aslla Piscu hated sobbing. He always got hosts who sob. He will not wait for her to stop as he had in the past for Carly. There was something utterly broken about this particular girl sobbing. It wasn't natural. It made the sound more intolerable. Aslla Piscu applied the appropriate pressures to make her fall asleep. Jun continued to hold her, even as the fire ceased. There was a broken picture frame on the floor, half melted and covered in ash. She sobbed harder when she saw it. Jun pushed the remains under the bed. Down the hall, Jim explained their mommy was upset they didn't knock, and to please leave next time they see her breakdown like that.
