Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.
Chapter 14: After the Ordeal
As Cleo gently began to wake up, she found that she was cuddled up next to something soft and pleasantly warm. Whatever it was had a very pleasant and familiar scent. Cleo was very content to just stay like she was and fall back asleep, but suddenly she felt whatever was cuddled up next to her move slightly. Accompanying the movement was a soft groan in a very familiar voice. Slowly Cleo opened her eyes and saw Rio's face just inches away from her own.
Immediately, Cleo shot up in the bed she found herself in. Her face had turned bright red and her heart was pounding like a jackhammer. She tried to figure out just how she had wound up in bed with Rio, but it was hard to do with the still newly awakened memories of her past life swirling around in her head. Cleo remembered the duel she was forced to have with Rio. Then after the awakening of her ancient memories she remembered Rio kissing her and telling her that she loved her, but she wasn't sure if that part simply wasn't just a dream.
Cleo decided to put aside trying to figure out what happened after the duel for the moment to figure out just where she was. The bed that she and Rio shared was in a fairly small room with wood paneling covering the lower half of the white walls. After a moment, Cleo recognized the place as the kind of room one might find on a small but high-priced boat. Though the fact that she was on such a boat raised a few more questions than it answered. Before Cleo could begin to ponder those questions though, Rio suddenly awoke and sat up. As Cleo watched Rio rub the sleep from her eyes, she couldn't help but notice how cute she was.
"Oh good! You're awake." Rio spoke. "I was so worried about you."
"What happened?" Cleo asked.
"You passed out after that duel." Rio explained. "Your mom suddenly showed up after it happened and we brought you here. Thomas and the others are aboard the boat too."
"So… did you pass out or something too?" Cleo asked, wondering why they were sharing the same bed.
"Oh… well, I wanted to stay close to you until you woke up." Rio explained as a blush formed on her face. "But since you're awake now, I guess I should leave. I'm probably the last person you want to be around right now."
"Rio, wait." Cleo spoke as she grabbed the bluenette by the wrist. "Why would you even think that I wouldn't want you around me?"
"Because of the way I've been treating you on this trip." Rio answered. "And that duel we just had."
"That duel wasn't your fault." Cleo pointed out. "And I deserved to be treated like I was by you. I've been acting like a real fool lately."
"Still…" Rio began.
"Rio, did you mean it when you said that you love me after that duel?" Cleo asked.
"…Of course I did." Rio told her. "I love you just as much as I did in our lives from before."
Cleo smiled and pulled her close. "And I love you, and there's nowhere else I'd rather have you than right here by my side."
Rio gave Cleo a tearful smile. Cleo smiled back, and before they knew it they were locked in another passionate kiss. As the kiss deepened, Cleo inserted her tongue into Rio's mouth, causing the younger girl to moan. Their tongues moved against one another for several moments before their lungs cried out for air. Once they broke the kiss though, Cleo moved in and began to suck on Rio's neck. At the same time, her left hand clutched Rio's chest and began to grope her breast, causing Rio to moan with delight.
At that particular moment, Carly walked into the room. "Oh good! You're finally up."
Cleo and Rio instantly froze upon hearing Carly's voice. The two of them were mortified to find the reporter standing in the room, yet were also somewhat grateful that she had not barged in a few moments later.
"Mother! What the hell are you doing here?" Cleo asked in a shrill loud whisper.
"Well I've just been worried about you these last few days." Carly explained as she walked over to the bed. "Your father sensed that Red Nova had awakened again, so I decided to come to Obsidian City to check on you. Of course I had to rent this boat to get to the island, but that was no big deal."
"Well I'm clearly okay." Cleo told her through gritted teeth. "So would you mind…?"
"Oh! You'll never guess who's here with me!" Carly continued before Cleo could finish her request. "Come on in, Robin!"
Entering the room was a girl with looked to be about twelve years old. She had long black hair with a few prominent orange streaks in it and iron-grey eyes. The girl had on a light-green shirt with a black leather jacket and a short pink skirt. Cleo instantly recognized the girl as her younger cousin, Robin Hogan.
"Hi Cleo!" Robin greeted in a cheerful manner. "Long time, huh?"
"What are you doing here, squirt?" Cleo asked.
"Well I'm here kind of for the same reason as Aunt Carly." Robin explained. "I sensed Red Nova's awakening too, so I came with in case you or Aunt Carly needed help. Looks like it's a good thing I came, too. There's some kind of weird power on this island."
"Uh, Mrs. Atlas?" Rio interrupted. "Could you and Robin please leave?"
"Oh, sure. No problem." Carly told her. "We'll let you and my daughter get some rest now. We can talk more about this later."
With that, Robin and Carly left the room, causing Cleo and Rio to breath a sigh of relief. A split second later though, Carly popped back into the room.
"By the way, Cleo. Did you and I ever have 'the talk'?" Carly asked.
"Mother! Leave!" Cleo ordered.
"Okay, okay. I'll go." Carly told them. "Just try and keep the noise down if you and Rio get real intimate."
After that, Carly finally left the room. Rio and Cleo collapsed back onto the bed. The mood had totally been killed.
"Well… at least your mother seems accepting of our relationship." Rio noted.
"I swear to god she's going to drive me insane one of these days." Cleo declared.
"…Hey Cleo? I think there's some other things you should know about me." Rio told her. "I had another life between my past life as a princess and the one I have now… and I'm not sure you're going to like some of the things I did then."
Carly and Robin emerged on the deck of the boat they were on to find Iris, Michal and Thomas waiting for them along with Alyssa, Byron and Dr. Faker. The sun had set completely and a bright crescent moon hung in the sky.
"How are Rio and Cleo?" Michael asked.
"Cleo's awake." Carly answered. "She and my future daughter in law both seem to be doing fine."
"Do you have to call Rio that?" an irritated Thomas asked.
"And just what's wrong with my daughter?" an offended Carly asked.
"Chill, Aunt Carly." Robin told her. "Right now I think we should probably focus on this whole thing with Cleo's past life."
"So Cleo really is the reincarnation of the Scarlet Empress?" Michael asked.
"Definitely." Robin confirmed. "The fact that the Crimson Dragon's seal is on Sonja's statue is proof."
"So does that mean that Cleo was originally a priestess of the Crimson Dragon like you are?" Carly asked her niece.
"No, in her past life Cleo was something much different." Robin answered. "Normally, the Crimson Dragon chooses five humans to bare his mark and become Signers. And occasionally he'll also choose a priestess to act as a conduit like me and before me, my mom. That priestess bares the Crimson Dragon's seal on her back. But my mom once told me that once every hundred generations, the Crimson Dragon would choose a single Signer to bare his full mark. That Signer is known as a Legendary Signer, and is said to possess incredible power."
"That's all fascinating, but if Cleo's the reincarnation of Sonja, does that mean that Dante is also the reincarnation of Zahn the Black Diamond?" Faker asked.
"I wouldn't be surprised." Robin answered. "This probably all has something to do with some unfinished destiny."
"So wait, you're saying my brother's not crazy?" Alyssa asked.
"Oh he's crazy alright." Robin told her. "His insanity just happens to be based in reality."
"That makes me feel a hell of a lot better." Alyssa sarcastically replied.
"So Dante obviously wants revenge on Cleo for whatever happened in their past lives." Michael observed. "But what else is he after?"
"It's obviously what he has Kazuma looking for in the ruins of that castle." Byron assumed. "But we have no idea what that is."
"Maybe we do." Iris spoke. "Remember after Cleo dueled Dante back at his mansion? He said he was after something that would help him make a card that was stronger than Black Dragon Archfiend. And earlier when Cleo summoned Red Nova Dragon, Dante said something about her getting the power he was after before he could get to it. What if Dante is trying to make a card that's the evolved form of Black Dragon Archfiend?"
"Wait! Back up." Carly spoke. "Black Dragon Archfiend?"
"Maybe you guys should tell us more about this dragon of Dante's." Robin suggested.
Brimstone and Splicer walked through the forest and eventually found Dante in the place they had agreed to meet. The brown-haired card creator had a scowl on his face, indicating to the duo that he was not in a good mood.
"So what's up, boss?" Brimstone asked as they approached. "Things not going too good?"
"Hardly." Dante told them. "The duel I arranged between Cleo and Rio went miserably."
"So what do you want us to do now?" Splicer asked.
Before Dante could answer, his D-Gazer began to ring. Irritated, he put the device on to answer it. "Yes?"
"Did I catch you at a bad time, Dante?" Kazuma asked on the other end.
"Oh. Mr. Tsukumo. Forgive my curtness just now." Dante replied. "Did you find something?"
"I believe so." Kazuma answered. "I think it's the thing we came here for. If you want, I can show it to you now."
"Marvelous!" Dante replied with a grin. "I'll meet you outside the castle shortly." He then put his D-Gazer away and turned his attention back to Splicer and Brimstone. "Well gentlemen, it seems that things have taken a wonderful turn. In the meantime, I'd like for you both to go find Cleo and eliminate her for me. There will of course be a bonus in it for you."
"Sure thing." Brimstone replied. "I was just thinking that we should put an end to this."
Cleo had been listening closely as Rio told her about her other past life as Merag of the Seven Barian Emperors. She told her about how she and her fellow emperors almost destroyed the Earth and Astral World in the name of their own. And about how at the end of it all they died only to be brought back as humans.
"…So now you know." Rio finished as she wrapped up her tale. "I hope you don't think less of me now that you know what I was."
"I could never think less of you." Cleo told her. "Though I do want to kill this Vector and Don Thousand."
"Don Thousand is gone." Rio told her. "And Vector… well he's not as bad as he was. But I will understand if you try to kill him. Still, even if I was used it doesn't change the things I've done."
"Rio, what happened back then is in the past." Cleo told her. "The only thing I care about is now, and right now you and I are together again. That's what's important."
Rio smiled and moved in to give Cleo another firm kiss. The kiss soon deepened and their tongues began to battle for dominance. They suddenly no longer cared about the possibility of Carly suddenly barging in on them again. They shifted on the bed so that Rio was on top. When they broke for air again, Rio sat up and took off the powder blue t-shirt she was wearing, revealing her white bra underneath. Just as she was about to undo her bra though, the whole ship seemed to shake as if it had been hit by something.
"Dammit! Now what?" an irritated Cleo asked.
Rio quickly put her shirt back on and the two ran out of the room to see what was happening. When they joined the others on deck, the couple saw Splicer and Brimstone on shore. One of Brimstone's raptors shot at the ship with a fireball from its mouth.
"Those two are back?" Rio realized.
"Hey! Will the daughter of Jack Atlas please come out?" Brimstone called. "We'd like to kill her!"
"Over my dead body!" Carly protested.
"Mother, calm down." Cleo told her. "If they want to fight me, then I'll take them on. It's about time we got rid of these idiots anyway."
"I'm going with you." Rio told her. "I'm not just going to stand by and let you fight alone like before."
Cleo smirked. "I'm guessing there's no point in arguing with you, is there? Okay then. We'll face them together."
With that, Cleo and Rio got off the boat and headed towards Brimstone and Splicer. The rest of the group simply watched and waited from the boat.
"Nice of you not to keep us waiting." Brimstone told Cleo.
"Why's the ice princess here?" Splicer asked.
"Rio and I are going to take you on together!" Cleo told them. "Prepare to be crushed!"
Author's Note: I had debated with myself many times about whether or not to include a "love scene" between Cleo and Rio in this chapter. Hence my questioning about whether or not to change the rating of this story. In the end I decided to have them get to that point, only to have them interrupted by something.
As for Robin, I think there's something I should explain about her for those who are unfamiliar with my 5D's Alternative trilogy. As some of you reading may have figured out, Robin is the young daughter of 5D's character, Crow Hogan. And her mother is an OC named Raven that I borrowed from a friend for the 5D's Alternative trilogy. Raven has the full seal of the Crimson Dragon on her back, and in the trilogy acts as a sort of "priestess" in the story. As I implied in the chapter, Robin acts as the priestess for the second generation Signers. She'll be more involved in the 5D's Alternative sequel that I'll eventually do, but for now she's in a supporting role.
Please review and let me know what you think.