AN: Okay, so I don't know if anyone really cares at this point.... But I'm going to be finishing up here anyway. So yeah. Next chapter.

Chapter 11: Under Lemnos

Just one hour, just one day, to see the ocean and feel its waves…

The water lapped at Yami's bare feet, and a salty breeze blew from somewhere down the beach. She loved the ocean — something about the feeling of peace she got just being near it. It was a force too great for mankind to conquer. That in itself was an inadvertent triumph, and she marveled at that alone.

"Raye and I are going surfing later. Wanna come?"

Yami turned to see Lita standing next to her before shifting her gaze back out toward the horizon. "I've never surfed before."

"All the more reason to try," Lita replied with a shrug. "Heck, you're awesome on a skateboard… excluding one little incident." She elbowed Yami in the ribs, and the teen could hardly help but laugh.

"Sure, why not? Sounds like fun to me."

"Rock on!"

"Are you and Raye the only ones who surf?"

Lita nodded. "Chad usually does too, but he's got work at the shrine. You can use his board — Raye brought it along. He rides short board, like the rest of us."

"What's the difference?"

"Well, I was never much of a long boarder, but it's supposed to be more like in tune with the waves and all. But short — life on the edge, baby! Major adrenaline rush. It's kakkoii!"

Yami laughed. "Sounds like a blast to me."

The girls were interrupted by a high-pitched wailing. Turning to find the source of the noise, they saw Darien taking off for the water, Serena slung over his right shoulder. "Come on, guys! Serena and I are goin' for a swim!"

Yami was surprised that Darien did not go deaf with the way Serena was yelling in his ear, pounding on his back with her small fists. But her fit was to no avail. Soon they were in the water, which splashed high up around them, and the girl was shortly thereafter wailing about the temperature of the water. With a laugh, Yami and Lita ran to join them in the ocean, paying no mind to the cold water, and it was not long at all until Raye, Mina, and Amy were there as well, and Serena's screaming finally turned to laughter.

Yami was surprised that Darien and Amy, the two most mature people in the group, were the ones to start the water fight. This fact, though, only made it all the more fun. Soon, everyone was involved, laughing and splashing everything and everybody in sight. Everyone, that is, except Serena, who was chasing Raye for calling her an immature wuss, and Raye, who was swimming away for dear life while calling back names over her shoulder that she knew would only make Serena even madder.

It was hours, though it seemed much shorter, before the group of friends collapsed onto their towels farther up the beach. There, they lazed about, letting the sun dry them. Yami ran a hand through her wet hair, sighing as she shut her eyes and let the bright sunlight seep through her closed lids. She made a mental note to be sure to thank Lita again for loaning her the swimsuit — of course she did not have one of her own anymore, and she could hardly have gotten through the day without it.

"Hey! Who wants to go hunting for seashells?" Yami looked up to see Serena's smiling face looking to each one of her friends in turn. Already the girl was jumping to do something else. Didn't she ever run out of energy? But then, Yami already knew the answer to that question.

"I'll go!" Mina was the first to speak up. Soon the bouncing meatball head had everyone recruited to come along except for Darien, who opted to sit this one out. Yami understood — she was still exhausted from their last exertion. Had she not been so intrigued by the scouts' unlimited energy and happiness, she probably would not have gone seashell hunting either. She had no particular interest in seashells. They were fine to look at on the beach, but she had no care for collecting them.

"Look at this one! Ohhh, and that one over there!" Serena snatched up shells by the dozens. She had come well prepared, though, with a giant cup brought along for just this task. "Oh, hey, and that pretty pinkish one!" Yami laughed at her excitement.

"Not too fast, Meatball Head. You wanna leave some for the sea animals to live in, don't you?"

Serena looked up for a moment, stunned, before laughing and shaking her head. Her attention immediately returned to the task of finding shells.

Despite her disinterest in collecting shells, something half-buried in sand just inches from the waves washing over the beach caught Yami's eye. Scooping it up, she looked over it with an interest that came very close to awe. "Hey, check this out."

Amy, immediately interested in the teenager's find, took the black object from her hand. "It's a lava rock. Probably came from an underwater volcano. You should hold on to it." She handed it back to Yami, who accepted it silently.

As soon as the volcanic rock touched Yami's hand, the voice suddenly flashed in her head. Hidden away in Lemnos, under the volcano… Shaking her head, Yami immediately tossed the rock aside. "No, I… I have no use for it."

Lita, who had been listening since Amy's analysis, stared at the teenager for a long moment before, with a determinedly set expression, scooping up the rock and holding it out toward Yami. Swallowing, the sandy-haired teen shook her head again. "No."

With a sigh Lita took Yami's hand and closed it around the lava rock. "Keep it. It's the only thing that's interested you at all on this beach, which means it holds something for you. You should hold on to it, like Amy said."

Drawing a slow breath, Yami nodded and dropped her hand, still holding the rock, to her side. As much as she wanted to fling it aside once more, forget about any possible reminder that existed in this world of the evil voice, she knew that Lita was right. Things would never come together if she refused to face them, and maybe it was time to start doing just that.

After another few minutes of watching Serena and the other girls collect seashells, Yami excused herself and returned to the towels where they had left all the stuff they'd brought along. Darien appeared to be sleeping, lying on his stomach with his head resting on his folded arms, eyes closed and breath steady. With a sigh, Yami fell onto her towel. Her clothes were wadded up in a pile on one end of it, and she slipped the lava rock into the pocket of her jeans before lying back to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

"Find anything interesting?"

Yami jumped at the sound of Darien's voice. She had thought he was asleep. "Volcanic rock. That was the only thing I picked up, anyway."

"Sounds cool."

"Yep. Serena will have plenty to show you when she gets back, though. She's got enough shells to house a few hundred hermit crabs."

Darien laughed. "Sounds like my Meatball Head all right!"

No more words passed between them until the others returned. Being able to hear the chattering group of girls from far down the beach, they both had plenty of time to prepare. Neither were surprised when Serena came bounding up and immediately chimed, "Lunch time!"

* * * * *

The waves were good that day — big enough to give experienced surfers a fair ride and small enough to not pummel a beginner with similar experience. Yami enjoyed the salty spray that moistened her face as she rode any such wave. Sometimes, she could catch sight of a rainbow in the mist out of the corner of her eye. But she never dared turn to look for fear of breaking her concentration and from the knowledge that the colorful mirage would disappear the instant she tried to pin it down in reality.

Yami found that learning to surf was not remarkably difficult. With her natural ability to excel at any sort of physical activity, she would have done well even were she not a skater already. Though there were several fundamental differences between surfing and skateboarding, Yami found that many of the basics were not dissimilar, and her balance was good, so surfing came fairly naturally to her.

The teenager basked in the wonderful feeling of being in tune with the world around her. As much as she always felt isolated from everything, it was like a sort of bliss for her. And like Lita had said, riding short board was quite a thrill. She never once found a dull moment.

Paddling back out to catch another wave, Yami allowed herself a moment to watch her friends. Lita was riding a pipeline, and Raye was just getting ready to catch another ride. Lita made it out just in the knick of time, just before the wave came crashing down, sending crystal drops of salty ocean water raining down on the brunette. With a smile, Yami continued on her way out. A moment later, Raye was up, riding with all the grace and skill — her characteristic determined concentration giving her a unique edge — of any professional. Yami was watching her out of the corner of her eye when it happened.

With a gasp of surprise, Raye lost her balance, plummeting into the water below. Seeing the surfboard fly high up in the air before turning to fall back to the water nose first, Yami and Lita both cried out simultaneously and quickly started toward their friend. But before either could reach the spot where she'd gone under, Raye broke the surface again, gasping for air and hacking out the water in her lungs. Clambering onto her surfboard, she began paddling for shore, still coughing.

Yami immediately set course for the bank. When she got there, everyone was already gathered around Raye, who was just catching her breath. "Ohh, are you all right? What happened?" Serena's forehead was wrinkled in concern, her hands clutched together in front of her chest.

"Take a chill pill, Meatball Head. I'm just fine."

"What happened?" Mina asked a little more calmly than her fellow blonde.

"I saw a lightning flash in the distance," the psychic girl whispered, her eyes wandering to look far out over the horizon, where the sun was beginning to dip toward the water. "A great darkness is descending on us. Something is coming — soon. I can feel it."

A silence fell upon the group. Slowly, the light faded, deepening the feeling of danger falling like the sun at that very moment, only the danger was falling toward them, targeting them like unsuspecting prey in the dark. "I think it's time to go," Darien finally said, cutting into the silence. Serena, who had made her way into his arms at some point, nodded her agreement.

Together, the seven friends made their way up the beach. With every step, they felt the deepening darkness more heavily.

* * * * *

"'Methought I saw my late espouséd saint brought to me like Alcestis from the grave, whom Jove's great son to her glad husband gave, rescued from death by force though pale and faint. Mine, as whom washed from spot of childbed taint, purification in the old law did save, and such, as yet once more I trust to have full sight of her in heaven without restraint, came vested all in white, pure as her mind. Her face was veiled, yet to my fancied sight love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined so clear, as in no face with more delight. But O, as to embrace me she inclined, I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night.'"

Lukas cleared his throat. "Very, umm… joyful."

Yami laughed. "Milton. This was about his wife, who died giving birth. It's not supposed to be happy."

"Do you ever read anything that's not so… dark?"

"Do you?"

Lukas nodded acknowledgement to her accusation. "Granted." Yami sighed, falling into her seat next to Lukas's. "Rough day?"

"Rough few weeks."

His voice lowered. "Doesn't have anything to do with me, does it?"

Yami shook her head. "No, of course not. You've made it a lot better, actually."

Lukas offered a lopsided smile, his green eyes sparkling. "Glad to hear it." There was silence for a moment before he spoke again. "Yami?"

"Hmm?"

"You don't… have a boyfriend, do you?"

"Baka! No, what made you think that?"

"It's just that when I… you know, the other day…"

"I don't have a boyfriend, Lukas. Nor have I ever, if that makes any difference."

"I don't care about your past, Yami," he replied softly. "I only care about right now."

"I'm more concerned about tomorrow's light than today's," Yami said softly.

"You know, I've never felt so close to anyone in my entire life. And this is only the fourth day I've known you! You're like my best friend…. I can't remember what it was like before we met."

"Lukas…" Yami leaned forward in her chair so that she could catch his averted gaze. "I do care about you. But there's just so much crap in my life… I don't want you to get dragged into it."

He reached up, stroking her cheek gently. "I'm already into it." It wasn't until then that she realized how close their faces had grown over the past minute. Yami found her eyes caught by Lukas's gaze. So mature already at such a young age… But then, she was not really one to talk, was she? Slowly, they drew closer. Lukas leaned in, much like he had before. She could almost taste his breath, he was so close to her.

With small tears in the corners of her eyes, Yami lifted a hand to Lukas's shoulder, stopping him again when they were only a breath apart. "Please…" she whispered, her eyes filled with sorrow and an ever-present fear of the future, a future she did not want him to have to see. The boy froze but did not back away. Their lips hovered just millimeters apart for… Yami could not have guessed how long. Slowly, after what seemed like an eternity of swirling emotions and screaming caution that always held her back from taking that decisive step, Lukas lifted his face to gently kiss her forehead, his nose brushing at her soft bangs, before he leaned back in his own seat.

"'To my fancied sight love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined so clear, as in no face with more delight,'" he whispered, unsure of whether she could hear it or not. Yami swallowed, closing her eyes against reality for a long moment.

"Gomen nasai, Lukas," she said, her voice breaking. "I have to go." Quickly, she rose, grabbing her skateboard, and was already several steps toward the door before Lukas sprang up to intercept her.

"Stay! Please! Onegai, Tenshi…"

Tears filled the teenager's eyes as she looked back at this boy she thought she might be falling in love with. "Please don't call me that…. I haven't earned it. I don't even know if I can…."

"But you have. Don't you see? You are my angel. Before you, there was nothing." Lukas paused, his breath catching in his throat. "I love you," he finished softly.

At his words, something inside of Yami broke. "I have to go…" she sobbed before pushing past him and running out of the library. She stopped only when she was several blocks and corners away, alone in an empty alley. Sliding down the wall, she felt the tears slipping silently down her cheeks but made no move to wipe them away.

Opening her book, she began to write.

Hikari no Tenshi
Is the light a lie?
Can love be true
Under so dark a sky?
One more step
To over the edge
Follow me not
Oh, black-hearted wretch
They fall to the dark
Into the abyss
My only true loves
Friends not of a wish
Friendship of love
On my fault will fail
I see the dark fall
I hear innocence wail
The future draws near
Oh, Fate, chase me not
Destiny, come forth
And save those you sought
I give my heart
To love only light
But stay back, love me not
For I bring only blight

With an agonized cry, Yami dropped her head into her hands. Taking a deep breath, she finally pushed back the tears, rising to her feet with a set determination. Forcing one foot in front of the other, she by some miracle made it all the way to the arcade, where she was certain to find her friends.

When Yami was just about to enter, the arcade door opened, and Serena came flying out. The two collided, and it took Yami a moment to realize she was on the ground. When she finally got her bearings back, she could not help but start laughing. "For some reason, I feel like we've been here before."

Serena looked up, silent for a stunned moment as she realized who she'd run into before jumping up happily and reaching down to help her friend up. "Yami! Where have you been? Hanging out with your boyfriend this entire time?"

"Uh…"

"We were gonna head over to the park. Wanna come?"

It was then that Yami saw the others gathered behind Serena, some still softly snickering about the collision. Lita made no attempt to hide her grin at the mention of Yami's "boyfriend."

"Uh… sure, I'd love to come. Iko." Running a hand through her hair, she stooped to pick up her skateboard and the book Serena had given her, which had ended up scattered on the sidewalk. She froze as she saw the lava rock she had found the day before lying a few inches from her fingers. It must have fallen out of her pocket when she'd run into Serena. Swallowing, she forced her hand to reach out and pick it up, slipping it back into her pocket before straightening and smiling at her friends. "Well, come on."

A wind blew past the group as they walked down one of the many paths in the park, rustling leaves and blowing at hair. Normally Yami would have enjoyed it, but something about this wind nearly made her stop dead in her tracks. It was… cold somehow, but she knew the feeling had nothing to do with the temperature. Seeming to replicate the feeling Yami had in her gut, Raye froze. The others stopped as soon as they realized that Yami and Raye were no longer following.

"Something's wrong," Yami whispered, her eyes slowly traveling over everything around them, though she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Whatever it was, it was invisible to her eyes.

"What is it?" Mina asked as she and the others approached the two.

Raye did not look at any of her friends. Instead, her eyes were traveling around, searching for something, anything, that could have caused the disturbance she felt. "I sense…"

The psychic girl was interrupted, however, as a searing wind blasted them all. The sky immediately blackened, and their cries were silenced as threatening lightning slashed through the sky.