(Author's Note)
If you haven't yet, go to my profile and click on the link to my newest pic! I'm told that it "pwns", compliments of my home-slice EoS. Even I think it's awesome, and I'm my own worst critic.
I finished this chapter the day after posting Ch13! Go me!
Hmm…in this chapter, there will be good stuff and bad stuff, but the M-rated bits are still pending. Keep an eye out, though. I might change my mind all of a sudden. XD
Quote(s) of the Day: "Old One-Eyed Unibrow thought the bartender was kidding when he said 'All we have to drink here is horse urine.'"—Blink-182, Dude Ranch CD cover
"Futurama: Beats a hard kick in the face."—Futurama opening sequence
Doubt: The Destroyer of All Things
(The Heavens)
Kannon stared in awe at what she had just seen, the bowl of popcorn nearly slipping from her hands in her distraction.
"Wow," was all she managed to iterate.
Venus, however, was more eloquent in her surprise and pride.
"I told you it would all work out for the best! No mortal woman can resist him!" she cackled triumphantly, leaping to her feet and dancing with an invisible partner while her airy tunic flittered around like a mist. "I was right! Eris has to give up! I was right! Eris has to give up!" she sang as she danced. "Now I can rest assured that Chaos will find happiness! My work is done!" Needless to say, she was about as excited as she ever got.
Unfortunately, Kannon wasn't so sure. She hadn't missed the brief appearance of Konran's mother, and it left her with a bad taste in her mouth. That Kougaiji wasn't going to take his sister's kidnapping lightly, and Konran's newfound happiness was likely to suffer…if Lydia's over-thinking didn't ruin it all beforehand.
Settling back down and tuning out Venus' continued prancing, Kannon scanned the watery images, wondering how the Prince would handle things now, and wondering even more how Lydia was going to react when she finally realized exactly how serious this recent development really was.
The Merciful Goddess was going to need more popcorn, and soon.
(Dilemma)
After Kon left, the room was quiet. I could hear other people moving through the inn—mostly the others putting away the groceries into the bags in Sanzo's room, and the incoherent cursing of the inebriated monk himself—but in the room it was quiet. The clone had ceased her muffled shrieking at the threat of bodily injury, but for some reason I wished she were still making noise.
The silence was almost suffocating.
What had just happened? Now that I had peace and quiet to think, it was clear that something major had just occurred—no, something earth shattering.
Kon had kissed me…and I had returned the favor with gusto. This wasn't normal, and I was pretty sure that it wasn't good. I didn't like the need he'd left in me. I didn't like the sudden loss of control.
Mostly, though, I didn't like the way my pulse quickened at the thought of what would happen when he returned. Deep down, I wanted him to hurry back and kiss me again until I lost all sense of self. My confidence was slipping away like so much sand in the hourglass, and I didn't know what to do about it…except…
I knew that when he returned, he would expect something from me that I wasn't prepared to risk.
I couldn't have that—I had to end it before it went any further. It hurt to think about, but that pain only made me even more determined to sever the connection. If I let myself get too attached, and something happened, then he would end up as another Rafe.
Once was enough. It would not happen again.
(Afternoon—Speculation)
After everything had been taken care of, and the obdurate priest had at last been put to rest via the healer's remarkably efficient persuasive skills, Hakkai finally had an opportunity to rest a bit downstairs in the diner. It was already past two, but Goku had yet to pester him for food. Of course, this was probably because, according to Yaone, the young man had had about six malted milkshakes around lunchtime.
Oh well…it was best not to question good fortune.
"You look like you've been run through the mill," observed Gojyo, approaching the table from the other side of the diner and bringing his Kirin with him. He took a seat across from the ex-human and sipped his drink casually.
Hakkai sighed, smiling a little. "Sanzo is rather unreasonable when he's had an entire bottle of vodka. I had to threaten to cut up his gold card before he agreed to lie down and take it easy."
Gojyo raised a sympathetic eyebrow. He wouldn't have been caught dead trying to help the drunken holy man. In a priest-kill-kappa world, it was survival of the fittest, and the monk hated him the most. He found it easier to save his own skin. Besides, Sanzo had an irritating habit of not dying when he was supposed to, so there really wasn't anything to worry about.
Instead of voicing his entire inner-monologue, however, all he said in reply was, "Yeah, but old holier-than-thou can take care of his own ass. He'd have been fine passed out down here."
"Perhaps, but it would be bad for business if the establishment became known for incapacitating a Sanzo priest. It's better if he spends his coma in his room, wouldn't you agree?"
That earned him a poorly suppressed chuckle. "Man, that's cold comin' from you! Anyway, when do you think he'll finally wake up and drag us out of here. I'm gonna lose my lean body if we don't get going and start getting our daily exercise." There was more to it than that, of course. The water sprite hadn't seen anything strange happen since the freak weather shift, and now it was so nice outside that it was hard to believe that the weather had been bad at all, aside from the tenacious snow, of course. If they were lucky, everything had just fixed itself without their help, and Konran could take Lydia and Yumoa home.
If their luck was poor, however…
"When Sanzo wakes up we can ask him," Hakkai murmured distractedly as he motioned over a waitress and ordered a pot of hot tea. Once she left, he added, "Of course, moving on would beg the question of whether or not Konran's group and Kougaiji's group would follow us. Somehow that would feel a bit crowded."
"Yea, I guess you're right," admitted Gojyo. "It would be like someone else was writing our story for us in the middle of it all."
"Oh, don't be silly. That's not how life works."
While the two chuckled amicably, and while the author uncomfortably shuffled her notes and cleared her throat, the bell on the door gave a cheery tinkle and drew their passing attention.
"Speak of the devil," Gojyo muttered with a smirk. "Oy, over here!" He waved and caught the entrant's attention. "Have a seat. You don't wanna go up there. If Sanzo wakes up, it would suck to be the first thing he sees—it's kinda like being cursed."
Kougaiji frowned, still troubled over the conversations he'd had with both Eris and Konran, but in the end decided that it was too early to set his plan into motion and took a seat at the table as well. "What happened with Sanzo?" he asked, looking for any method of distraction he could find.
The kappa chuckled in barely contained amusement. "He's pretty much got alcohol poisoning. He'd been drinking since opening, and we just dragged him upstairs."
"I see…"
"So what did Konran have to talk to you about?" inquired Hakkai, thanking the waitress when she brought the tea over and pouring cups for himself and the Prince. "I caught him in the hall, and he seemed to be in a rush."
"Konran? Oh…he just wanted to know more about the clones. I explained that our scientists had created them with DNA samples taken from him and the other gods we've run into." There…that sounded plausible.
Gojyo's crimson eyes glinted in curiosity. "Huh. So how many are there? They seem to keep cropping up whenever we don't need them, so should we be on the lookout for any others?"
The Prince shook his head. "I know that there were three, total, but the third was still under development the last time I checked. Seimei and Lydia's clone are the only ones who have left the castle, though Lydia's clone escaped without authorization. Seimei was sent. He was actually here for some time, but he says that nobody noticed him until Lydia finally did. Even Sanzo missed him completely, apparently."
The kappa frowned, uncomfortable with the thought of a spy so close going completely unnoticed, especially by the monk. "Yeah, well Sanzo's been drunk almost the entire time we've been here. He wouldn't notice a mountain dropping out of the sky, much less one person who sort of looks like Yumoa."
Kougaiji sensed the offense, but refrained from commenting. "Of course. Anyway, once this problem with the dimensional fragmentation has been remedied, things should go back to the way they were. The current situation could be considered as a vacation, I suppose."
"Yeah, well it's getting kind of boring. Nothing has happened since the weather thing." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a fresh pack of Hi-Lites, lighting up and taking a much-needed breath of nicotine. "Once we're sure that everything's fixed, though, you'll be the enemy again."
"And so will you."
Gojyo frowned through the streams of smoke emanating from his cigarette, but didn't add anything further.
They were both right. However, there was no telling when things might get worse before they got better. This break in the weather may have simply been the calm before the real storm hit.
No pun intended.
(Upstairs)
"Is he really gonna be okay?" Goku asked for perhaps the fifteenth time, frowning in concern at the tossing and cursing figure in the bed.
Yaone, Dokugakuji, Yumoa, and Seimei were there with him, keeping watch over the monk while trying to instill a bit of peace onto the concerned monkey. Well, three of them were doing that. Yumoa was busy "jamming" on his CD player while playing Pokemon Red on his Game Boy Color. The box had told him to "catch 'em all" but it was beginning to frustrate the poor god that the version he had didn't have all the creatures he needed. Where was a link cable when he needed one?!
"He'll be fine," Yaone reassured the young man, only briefly distracted when Yumoa muttered his concerns over "Charlie" the Charizard's "HP" aloud. "I suspect that worse things have happened to him than a severe hangover."
"Yeah, but he doesn't look to good. He's kinda green," Goku argued. "Is it really okay to let him sleep? He might never wake up."
Seimei smirked—though it may have been more of a reaction to Yumoa's sudden tragic outburst when "Charlie" fainted than to Goku's plight—and said easily, "It's better this way. He'll get well faster than if we kept him up."
"Oh…okay, then."
"We should probably find something better to do than sit around here, though there isn't really much for us until something else happens to give us an idea of how to fix the dimensional problem," muttered Doku. Yumoa's odd behavior had been worrying him for some time, but what worried him more was how everybody acted like his behavior was normal. It just didn't sit well with him when there was clearly something wrong with his personality. Weren't gods supposed to be…well…godlike?
"So what was up with Konran and Lydia earlier?" Goku asked, retrieving him from his musings. "She freaks out, but that was the first time I've seen her treat him like that over something so small. Usually she just yells at him."
"Who knows?" sighed the clone, folding his hands behind his head and tilting his chair back a little. He couldn't have cared less about the Lyds/Kon situation.
Yumoa finally got fed up with the game and switched it off in a huff, pulling the headphones off and standing abruptly, much to everyone's non-surprise. "What about Kon?" he inquired, pulling up a chair and sitting at the table with his chin on the wood and his arms dangling listlessly beneath. Poor Charlie…
Goku frowned a little, but repeated his concerns to the god anyway, curious about the answer.
"Oh, that?" Yumoa's head thumped lazily to one side. "She prob'ly just panicked when we walked in on them kissing."
Silence.
More silence.
Yumoa's eyebrows rose when he looked up to see what the problem was, and found everyone staring at him in disbelief.
"That's…impossible…right?" Dokugakuji looked to Yaone, and she shrugged.
"It could be true. We know that Konran has been fighting for her attention for some time now," she admitted, though for things to change this suddenly seemed a bit irrational to her.
Goku, however, was adamantly opposed to the idea. "That can't be it! Why would she hurt him if she liked him that much?!"
"Well, this is Lydia we're talkin' 'bout," Comedy explained casually. "She's not all that rational. 'Sides, knowing her, she's likely thinking the same thing. She'll keep denying it 'til reality hits her upside the head, then she'll freak out again 'til Kon calms her down. He's the only one she calls to calm her down, but if he's the problem then she might be a little bit more difficult than she usually is."
Again, Dokugakuji was disconcerted by the god's behavior. Was he schizophrenic, or just very adept at pretending to be a fool? Or was he simply an idiot savant?
"It all too weird, though," Goku murmured uncomfortably. "I always thought they were just friends."
Yaone smiled a little to reassure him. "Well, sometimes good friends can become more than just friends. It's not rare at all. Those two have been together for a long time, so it's really not so surprising that they've begun to move the relationship forward."
"Maybe…but it's still weird."
Seimei frowned at them all, then set the chair straight with a clatter. "Whatever," he muttered in disinterest, pulling up his sleeve and looking at his watch. "I'm bored and hungry. I'll be downstairs if anyone needs me. There's a cute waitress I need to talk to."
As the clone got up, Yumoa leapt to his feet in a flash. "No! I'm comin' too, or you're gonna ruin my good name!" he announced.
The clone squinted at him, raising a finger and pressing it to the god's forehead to push him slowly back into his seat. "No. You stay here and be a good boy. I don't want people acting funny just 'cause we have the same face, got that? It's better if we're not seen together in public, or my good name is what's going to get soiled."
Stunned, Yumoa could only stare after his doppelganger in shocked silence as he left without another word.
"What a jerk!" he grumbled at length, folding his arms atop the table and resting his chin on his hand with a pout. "That's it. Now I'll never be his friend."
(Return)
Though he had entered the building first, Konran kept himself hidden until he was certain that nobody would notice him going into his and Lydia's room. He didn't want to stir up any suspicion over what exactly had been going on when everyone had burst in unannounced, but mostly he just wanted to make sure that she and he would be alone.
Once in, he shut the door as quietly as he could and spotted Lydia sitting silently on the couch, frowning hard at the floorboards.
Uh-oh. That usually meant she was in a bad mood.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly, and she flinched and stared at him in apparent surprise. "I'm sorry I took so long, but…hey, what's the matter?" She was gawking at him like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming semi.
Instantly worried, he went over and sat beside her, but when he tried to touch her, she pulled away and stood suddenly, clearly intent on leaving. But before she could even take a step, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her too quickly for her to escape. There was no way in hell that he would allow her to just shut him out after what had happened. He'd be damned if he let her go when he was so close to having her.
"You're shaking," he murmured, pressing his face against her hair. "Tell me what's wrong. Please?" Strange how silence bothered him more than her shouting.
Gently, he reached up and swept her long hair aside, turning her to face him, and then froze in surprise.
She looked positively terrified.
"Lydia, are you all right?" he whispered, holding her face delicately so that she didn't try to turn away. "Did I do something wrong? What happened?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but shut it tightly before any discernible words could escape and averted her eyes stubbornly.
Frowning slightly, he decided to test something, and slowly bent over her lips, placing a gentle kiss on the soft curve of her mouth.
Her response to the gesture was immediate, and suddenly her arms were around his neck, holding him tightly as she opened up to him completely. All of his worries evaporated in an instant, and his fingers slipped up her throat to tangle themselves in her hair.
The god was surprised, though. This time there was no frantic devouring, biting, or rough play. Actually, she seemed small and sweet, her little hands and delicate lips starved for contact while the rest of her was relaxed, curled in his arms.
He smiled to himself. She tasted like mocha.
(The Not-So-Great Escape)
It was no use. Despite how hard I had tried to convince myself that ending this thing with Kon before it even began was the best course of action to take, when he came back in through that door I could already feel my control vaporizing like so much self-delusion.
I wanted to kick, scream, cry—anything would have been better than losing myself…but deep down, all I really wanted to do was touch him again.
And when I did, I knew I was a goner.
My only remaining choice was to retreat…but he tasted so good…
ARGH! It was too hard to think with his tongue in my mouth! What good was a backbone when he could make it melt like butter?!
With this realization in mind, I tried to pull away, but to no avail. For once, the fact that his strength outmatched mine truly bothered me. It was too easy for him to slide his hands around my back and pull my hair tight, raising my mouth to his like an offering to the gods.
…or…well…erhem…to the God of Chaos, to be more precise.
Damn! What the hell was I doing anyway kissing a god?! This time I actually tried to push him away, but was immediately thwarted when he eased me onto my back on the sofa and pinned my legs to the cushions, pressing the entire length of his feverishly warm, painfully beautiful body against me.
As if driven by forces beyond my control, my own body adjusted automatically to fit against him and take in every inch of flesh it could. With a rattled sigh, I arched into his powder-smooth hand when it wandered under my shirt, and gave him room to slide it up the bare midline of my body. Any and all control I may have once had was now officially gone.
I really was going to cry, both because it felt amazing and because I was scared out of my mind. Could he not take a hint?! It wasn't that I didn't like it—oh, I liked it—there was just no way I could maintain any semblance of normalcy if my self-control was compromised like this. It was too much too soon.
Oh, quit your whining and enjoy it while you can, grouched REASON.
I didn't want to enjoy it! I wanted to run away.
Bite him! suggested MISCHIEF. You know he'll like it!
Say WHAT?! Who said you could talk?!
He so smexy! Take his shirt off! squealed HAPPINESS.
Augh! What the HELL?! No! Shut up, all of you! You're going to kill me!
Please, please, please get him out of those tight jeans, sighed CURIOSITY. I wanna see him naked.
GRRRRGH! That was the last straw. In a fit of panic and gathered determination I shoved him off me as hard as I could, and while he was disoriented I scrambled to the side and off the couch, hitting the floor at a sprint.
"I just remembered!" I cried frantically, reaching the door and yanking it open. "I gotta wash the toaster so I'm just gonna go take care of that, okay?!"
"Eh?!" Konran demanded articulately. His confusion knew no bounds.
Too late. I was already in the hall, running for my life.
"I'm sorry!" I yelled as I rounded the bend and made my escape.
And I was. I was very sorry. I could still taste him on my lips, and it took all the resolve I could muster to burst out of the inn, shoeless and afraid. Half of me wanted him so badly that it hurt, which only further provoked the other half to run like hell. My brain was a mess of protest and indignation and disappointment, but I didn't give a damn. The instinct to preserve the status quo was irrefutable.
…Dear gods, I hoped I hoped he wouldn't follow me. If he did, I knew wouldn't be able deny him again.
(Not-So-Casual Observers—Mount Olympus)
"Whoa. You really can see everything with this thing," Lirin marveled aloud, munching on a giant, juicy apple and gazing fixedly at the images flickering across the many facets of the crystal.
Eris frowned at the girl, marveling herself at the fact that the little imp didn't seem to think that kidnapping was all that big a deal. "I already told you that," she muttered. "This picture here is the one I have been watching." She indicated the largest facet.
Lirin glanced over and her eyes went wide. "Whoa! That's Kon and Lydia! What're they doing?!"
Quickly, Eris looked into the image, and suddenly her temper rose like a firestorm of rage. "This is absurd! What the blazes is Kougaiji doing while this is going on?!"
"Eew, are they eating each other?" The Princess wrinkled her nose in distaste, unable to comprehend how anyone could enjoy that.
"Shut up! This is not supposed to happen!" The goddess began pacing restlessly, her midnight garments whipping around as if to emphasize her consternation, and tried to come up with a way to end it all in one fell swoop.
"What's wrong? If they really like each other, then it's okay, right?"
"NO, IT'S NOT OKAY!" exclaimed Konran's mother. "It's wrong! He is a god! He needs to act like one, not go around tainting my bloodline with mortal filth!"
Lirin pouted at the "mortal filth" remark. Lydia was her friend. She wasn't filth in any way, and if she really liked Konran that much, then Lirin had no problem with this. "That's not nice. No wonder Kon doesn't wanna listen to you. If you're mean, then he won't listen. Like my mom. She's mean to me all the time, so I'm always runnin' away from home." She looked back to the image, but suddenly forgot what she was talking about. "Hey, somethin's wrong! Lydia just pushed him off and ran away!"
"What?" Eris waved her hand above the crystal, and all the facets flickered to that one image. Her smooth brow creased in thought, contemplating this new development. "I see…so the girl does not want him…or perhaps she is just afraid? I could probably use that."
The little youkai took another bite of her apple and munched noisily. "Whatcha gonna do?"
The goddess shot her a disapproving frown. "Don't talk with your mouth full. It's impolite."
Obligingly, Lirin finished chewing, before swallowing and repeating her question.
"I want to talk to that girl," Eris replied, tapping one long, black-lacquered fingernail against her pointed chin. "If you are lucky I may not need your brother after all, but just in case, I will keep him on his leash for now."
"Be nice to her, though. Lydia can get kinda crazy if you make her mad. She could even beat Kon, and he's a god."
Eris didn't agree. There was no way a mortal girl could outmatch a god…however, this mortal girl was also an equivalent. It would probably be prudent to use caution, in any case.
"I will keep that in mind," muttered the goddess, waving her hand again and returning the crystal to its normal state. "I have to go do something, so stop playing with my potions. There is food in the cupboard, if you are that hungry, but you have to promise not to touch the apple potions again, understood?"
Lirin squinted in thought, then nodded. "Okay. Have fun!"
"Uh-huh." As she shifted to her scattered form, she hid a small smile. Eris couldn't help but wonder how any mother could hate that little girl. As irritating as she could be, she certainly had some endearing qualities.
Also, she wasn't human. That was certainly a plus.
(Venus de Wino)
Aphrodite had halted in mid-prance to gawk at the pool.
More than a minute later, she unhinged completely. "Absurd!" the Goddess of Love exclaimed in frustration, gripping her golden tresses and curling into a cringing ball of incomprehension.
"I'm really not that surprised. Lydia's a complex young woman," Kannon muttered, frowning at her empty latte mug before waving it above her chair to indicate that Jiroshin should bring another. He took the mug to refill it, and she folded her hands across one knee. "She's not accustomed to lust the way most women are, and the whole thing with her late gang leader only makes it harder for her. It'll take more than a moment of passion to make her see Konran as more than a friend. Give it time."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Venus snapped. "No woman in her right mind would push him away like that! He's hotter than Adonis was, for Hera's sake!"
The Merciful Goddess frowned slightly. "You adopted him when he was a baby. Doesn't it seem at all…inappropriate for you to refer to Konran as 'hot'?"
"Of course not. I'm just stating an understood fact. All of the other gods are jealous of him—that's why they sent him to work in Hades, where he couldn't do much harm to the female population…but to think that this mere mortal girl could deny him?!" She let go of her hair and sighed hopelessly. "Ugh, I need a drink."
Kannon smirked. "For once, I agree with you." She snapped her fingers. "Jiroshin! Cancel the latte! Irish coffees all around!"
"Yes, Merciful Goddess," he muttered dispassionately, going off to do her bidding and wondering quietly to himself whether or not it would threaten his job if he put a bottle of sleeping medicine in Venus' cup.
(Hideout)
A woodshed.
It was a lame hideaway, I knew, but it also seemed like the safest place to be during a crisis like this one. Wood didn't argue nearly as much as the disgruntled voices in my head did, and with the ground still coated with a thick layer of snow, it was warmer than a tree would have been.
…I hated myself.
There were several reasons for this realization:
Firstly, I had given in not once, but twice to Kon's persuasion. This was not normal, oh, no. I knew my will was stronger than that, yet I had still allowed my poor judgement to rule me. Unacceptable.
Secondly, I had run away. I was now officially a coward, incapable of diplomacy and reduced to hiding in a woodshed. If my dignity had taken a downward turn when I gave in to Kon, then it had flatlined the moment I turned tail and ran. I felt sick just thinking about it.
Lastly, however, and possibly most devastating of the reasons to hate myself, was the fact that I had probably hurt the god. He'd done nothing wrong, really. Sure, he had started it, but I should have said no before it could even begin. I didn't want to ruin the relationship we already had. It had been okay, hadn't it?
You think too much. Go back and apologize to him and let him make you happy.
"Shut your trap, REASON. I'm not in the mood."
Yes, you are—or, rather, you were—before you started thinking too much, at least.
"I'm PMS-ing. It's normal to get impulsive."
Don't make excuses. You've never had an "impulse" like this before. Admit it already: you're falling for him. By the looks of it, you've been falling for some time—took you damn long. Hit the ground, would you?
"I am not!" I protested, before slapping my hand to my mouth and glancing around the dank woodpiles, listening for the sound of approaching search parties. Once I was sure it was clear, I whispered almost inaudibly, "I can't be! That's just stupid!"
REASON snorted derisively, You're so naïve that it's a miracle you can function. It's bad enough that you didn't notice Konran's feelings towards you, but to be completely oblivious to your own feelings is just pathetic.
I frowned, confused. "Kon doesn't have feelings for me."
The voice was silent for a while, then:
Are you stupid or something? Why the hell else would he kiss you like that?
I ignored the heat rushing to my face at the memory of his kiss, and grouched stubbornly, "He has no reason to. There's nothing in my personality that's even remotely suitable for making him like me. I'm clinically insane—who in their right mind wants to get involved with an established madwoman?! Besides, guys are known for being detached. How else does Gojyo sleep around without falling for every woman he does it with?"
This isn't about Gojyo. This is about Konran, and regardless of your shortcomings, the fact that he hangs around is enough evidence to prove that your fractured rationale is wrong. Has Konran ever brought a woman home? Has he ever spent the night anywhere else but your room, barring the nights when you kicked him out for some trivial reason? Why the hell do you think he insists on sharing the bed with you, dammit?! It's because he's so obsessed with you that he can't stand sleeping anywhere else but by your side!
This was insane. None of it made sense to me. The bed thing was just Kon being overprotective because I was his equivalent. If something happened to me, then he would be the one hurt in the long run. He had no choice but to watch me like a hawk. "He's just trying to protect his assets," I muttered, shaking my head. "The stuff today was just a whim. It doesn't mean anything. I'm no more important than a faucet."
"Good to know that you understand your place," crooned an unfamiliar voice.
I jerked back in surprise and fell off my seat, unintentionally meeting the gaze of a dark-haired woman in a draping, silk toga-like garment. She had eyes like pure, perfect emeralds, and an oddly pointy grin.
"Who—who the hell are you?!" I demanded, automatically rolling over and getting to my feet, putting a safe distance between us. This wasn't good. She looked familiar, but nothing about her said that I could trust her not to hurt me. I didn't have any weapons on me—I had run out of the inn without my coat or my shoes, let alone the Beretta or Kon's sword. It was a careless mistake, which could end up getting me killed in this world.
Instead of attacking me, however, the strange woman smiled slowly and elegantly took a seat on my log pile. "I've come to discuss something important with you." She had a rich tone, kind of haughty, but mostly just regal. Her voice was deeper than one would expect a woman's voice to be, yet it seemed to fit her shadowy appearance.
"What do you want to talk to me for?" I asked, my fight or flight reflex battling over what to do. "Who are you?"
Her red-lipped smile broadened, but instead of giving me a sense of peace, it made me want to run for help.
"I am Eris, the Goddess of Chaos. I'd like to discuss the matter of my son with you, if it is not too inconvenient."
My mouth dropped open. Aww, crap. I was so dead.
(Indoors)
Konran was miserable, lost, confused—all those words he could use to describe how he felt about Lydia's sudden flight. He couldn't stop questioning himself, worrying over whether he had pushed her or scared her into doing something she hadn't wanted to do.
But despite his self-doubt, he knew he had to find her and clarify a few things. Knowing her, she probably thought the whole thing was a hormonal imbalance, or a mental illness.
Yes, in Lydia's mind, LOVE was a mental illness to be treated with strong pharmaceuticals.
"Damn it all to hell!" the god muttered, going down the hall and opening the door to Sanzo's room. "Hey, has anybody seen Lydia in here? Possibly throwing a fit, though I'm still not sure whether she's scared or angry."
Yumoa was the only one who wasn't gaping at him as though he were a ghost, and replied with a yawn, "Nope, but I did hear someone yelling about toasters and running downstairs. Why? Did she freak out?"
Chaos frowned, suddenly wary, "Over what?"
Comedy rolled his eyes and propped his chin on one hand. "Duh. Over you kissing her."
He blanched. "Uh…thanks for the info—bye!" Konran bade a hasty retreat, shocked yet again at how keen his cousin was. Dammit. Did everyone know about this?!
Fortunately, he didn't see Yumoa turn to Doku, Yaone, and Goku and chuckle mischievously, holding his other hand out to the middle of the table, "Told ya. Now pay up. I need money for a link cable."
Downstairs, the god found Hakkai and Gojyo eating a light snack with Kougaiji, but despite his uneasiness towards the Prince, who had suggested that he threaten his relationship with Lydia, he asked if they had seen her come by.
Gojyo squinted at him, a smirk trying to twitch its way into existence in his mouth. "Why? You do something bad?"
What was with everyone asking "why"?! Why couldn't they just answer the damn question?!
"Gojyo, please," Hakkai sighed. "We saw someone running out not long ago. It could have been Lydia, but they were moving too quickly to be sure. Is she all right?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Thanks, Hakkai."
As the god hurried out the door, he could almost feel Kougaiji's cold gaze following him, but he ignored it and pressed on. There was no telling what Lydia would do if left alone for too long.
"Yo, jackass!"
Kon frowned and looked up to find Rhadymanthus and Hakuryu wheeling above the inn in lazy circles. So that was where they had flown off to. They drifted lower and alighted on the roof of the Land Rover.
"Rhad…Hakuryu…" Chaos murmured, walking over while glancing around for signs of his equivalent. "Hey, while you were up there, did you see…"
"Lydia?" the bird finished before he could. "Yeah, she's in that shed over there, but I don't think it's a good idea to go in. Something reeks about the place."
He gave a start. "Is she in danger?!"
Rhad did his little bird-shrug, and the little dragon kyuu-ed his two cents. "Probably. There's something bad in there with her."
"Dammit!" Without any further discussion, he ran as fast as he could to the shed and nearly ripped the door off its hinges when he pulled it open. "Lydia?!" He froze when he saw her sitting on the woodpile, and caught the barest glimpse of something like smoke trailing out of a crack between the planks of the wall behind her. "What happened? Are you all right?"
Then he paused, noticing the expression on her face.
He'd never seen her so angry.
(Resolution)
Eris had had a lot to say. At first, I'd been skeptical—after all, Kon had told me that she wanted him dead…but then she told me about his other equivalents.
From that point on, I had listened intently to every word she said.
By the time Kon showed up, she had already gone, but the damage was already done.
He looked ragged, but I wasn't convinced. Actually, I was pissed. To think that I had been so blind…
"Lydia?" He frowned when I stood slowly and began walking towards the doorway. "What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay? Who was just here?" I didn't respond, and when I was finally within reach, he took hold of my hand, forcing me to look at him. "Lydia! Tell me something!"
I looked at his hand, then up into his eyes, suddenly so angry that I couldn't hold it in any longer.
In a blur, my free hand flew up and backhanded him across the face, and he staggered back in surprise, gaping at me.
"What the—what was that for?" he asked, too shocked to be mad.
I jerked my hand from his and turned to leave, but when he grabbed it again I snapped completely and ripped it from his grasp, rounding on him in my rage and gripping the front of his shirt to pull him down to my eye-level.
"Don't you ever fucking touch me again," I whispered an inch away from his face.
Once certain that he understood, I shoved him away and finally went back to the inn to pack his things.
After all, we would no longer be sharing my bed—or my room—from that moment forward.
(Author's Note)
(D8 –Shock—) Whoa. It's been a while since I've finished an entire chapter in a single day. Of course, it's 3:39 AM right now, so the fact that I don't sleep much might have something to do with it.
Lydia's last line here is kinda important, cause she never uses the F-word prior to the conversation with Eris. If you look back at everything she's said throughout both TIG and TS, you'll notice this. This here is the first time.
Poor Kon. I felt like crap while writing that last segment, but since I take a sick pleasure from torturing him, I didn't make myself stop. Makes you wonder what Eris said, though, eh?
As usual, Yumoa is lovable, and Lirin is adorable. Even Eris can't help but like her. I like making her appealing, since I know a lot of people who think she's irritating.
Anyway, hope you liked it!
—Cyh Scævola, the Chaos Theoryst OUT