Author's Notes: So there is a method behind my madness. I'm sure some of you have noticed and participated in my poll about m-preg on my author's page. Well, I'm closing it, and putting another poll in its place, so you should go check out the new one; you control the fate of Joey and Seto—and, ultimately, Mythaven! Well, really, I'd find a different way to make it work if enough of you disagree, but I digress.

So far, eighty percent of you have either said you love it or you don't care, as long as the story still makes sense. Only eighteen percent of you have absolutely said that you hate it. Where'd that other two percent go? I don't really understand it myself, but it makes no difference. But, since only seventeen percent of you have said you hate it, I can for certain promise that m-preg will be mentioned.

Mythaven

Recap:

"I would like to come with you," Pater stated, leaning down to be face to face with the brunet.

Seto scowled again, crossing his arms. "Why?"

The dragon narrowed his eyes angrily. "Because Gozaburo is not a Dragon Master; he is impersonating one. And I imagine that he is crunchy-delicious."

Despite how creepy that statement should have been, the brunet could only think of it as poetic justice. Gozburo had stolen his kit, so he would be eaten by an Emperor. Served him right for pissing off the dragons and stealing his baby. …He could only hope that he the other man was crunchy-delicious. The thought of his step-father being eaten was somehow appealing to him.

Chapter 25

Joey had no idea where he was going, but he was certain he was going in the right direction. He wasn't quite sure how he knew, but he did. And he was also certain that he was going to kill Akuju.

He was vaguely aware of some sort of creature flitting along near him, but he wasn't too bothered about it, until it started getting closer to him. It was large, and black, and had blazing yellow-orange-red eyes that flickered brightly. Stopping, he turned toward it sharply, eyes narrowing. "Who are you!?"

The hulking creature paused, then stepped out from behind the brush separating them. It was a very large, very angry looking wolf, and the blond realized that the reason its eyes seemed to change color was because its eyes appeared to be globes of hot fire with dark coals for pupils. This… was definitely not a Hell Hound.

The wolf dipped its head, and in a deep, gravelly voice, answered, "My name is Fenrir [1]. I mean you no harm, Golden One; I have no certain allegiance with you or your brethren, but I mean you no harm."

A wolf that wasn't on his side? Joey found that he didn't feel so sure of himself all of a sudden. "…Oh."

The wolf—he decided it was a male—smiled at that, fiery eyes glowing with amused warmth. "It is not because I am loyal to someone else; I merely despise social gatherings. And yes, I realize that wolves are social creatures. The irony has not been lost on me."

"So… ya won't hurt me?" The blond found himself relaxing, suddenly feeling more comfortable around the wolf now that he realized he wouldn't be hurt. He was merely a little confused now. "Why not pledge allegiance but not come t' the meetin's?"

Fenrir raised a brow, smiling wryly. "That is not how it works in Den, Joseph. And no, I will not call you 'Joey.' I am older than even Nenne; one of the oldest creatures here. I shall call you by your given name or 'pup.'" He turned his head to glance at him out of the corner of his eye, a decidedly roguish look in his eye. "Because that is what you are. You are a pup."

Joey frowned in confusion. "What do ya mean, that's not how it works in Den?"

"I dislike gathering for anything other than news necessary to me, which I can just get from my sons, and I do not like dealing with pups these days." He frowned. "So impertinent. I do not have the patience. Since I receive all of the information I need from my sons, I do not find it necessary to step inside Den." He turned back to face the boy and smiled again. "But I am available to you when you ascend to Nest. I have found I am much more agreeable when at higher altitudes."

"Oh." The blond hesitated, then turned to face forward again, giving the wolf one last glance as it began to slink back into the brush. "Um… Why were ya followin' me?"

"I have come to collect Akuju's soul to drag him back down to the underworld; down to Hell." Fenrir's eyes darkened with pain. "It is my fault he escaped, and I apologize for all of the pain he has caused you. I left my sons in charge as I left to take a break. I rarely take one; about once every hundred years." Seeing the blond's questioning gaze, he smiled despite the grievous information. "I do so adore torturing the inhabitants that I guard. After all… they must do something absolutely horrible to deserve being sent to be under my watch."

The boy tilted his head, blinking innocently. "What do ya mean?"

"I guard the deepest bowels of Hell, Joseph. This is by far my smallest form." The wolf smirked. "All of the people and creatures down there deserve any and all pain and anguish I decide to dish out. Unfortunately, when I left, Akuju overwhelmed my pups and escaped." His eyes darkened again as his head dipped, smirk gone again. "They were nearly mutilated. He spared them no pity. I have come to collect his soul and drag it back down to Hell, where I will inflict upon him all of the pain he inflicted on my sons and me."

Joey frowned. Now he truly didn't understand. "But… Fenrir… Why are ya followin' me then? Can't ya just go ahead and…?"

"He is too powerful for me to kill. I have been waiting for someone to do so for me, so that I can capture his soul. Souls are much easier to deal with." He snorted. "So I will watch, and wait, and when I get my chance, I shall rip the soul from his body. Then, I shall continue on to collect another soul—that one should be easier. I believe it will be trapped inside a dragon's stomach." Seeing the confusion in the blond's eyes again, the wolf smiled. "He is impersonating a Dragon Master. Dragons find this offensive. Pater is old, even if he does not seem so; we grew up together. Because of all the human lore of dragons eating humans, he has always wondered whether they are as 'crunchy-delicious' as they have made themselves out to be. I do not think he will pass up the chance to eat Seto's step-father."

The blond's eyes widened. "Nuh-uh!"

Fenrir turned to slink back into the brush. "Just remember something, Joseph. Pater is just as old as I am, and has seen many Golden Ones. Not all of them have been as good as others. He has been hurt. Thus, he is distrustful of all but Dragon Masters, and protective of them. There is a reason for everything." And he disappeared into the brush. "Though I must say, I am not looking forward to Kankana visiting once I get them locked away again. I would not be surprised if she tried to bring that stupid kirin along with her, even after I have informed both of them that he is not allowed there."

Despite himself, Joey began to laugh.

-x-x-x-

Seto decided that Pater wasn't necessarily so bad. He also decided that even though dragons were big and bulky, they were still impressively quiet. Pater had been walking along beside him, sniffing out the 'Imitation of the Real Thing,' making nary a sound. He was very upset with this 'Gozaburo.' However, he still hadn't quite forgiven the dragon for saying such mean things about his mate—

"I was hurt once," the dragon stated suddenly, nearly making him jump.

Looking up at him, the brunet raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"You realize that unicorns are under dragon protection?" He looked down at the human, eyes suddenly looking old and very tired.

Seto blinked in surprise, then shook his head. No, he hadn't realized that. "Why?" He failed to see what this had to do with his earlier statement, but he'd been raised to be patient when gathering information.

"They're so beautiful and wanted by all that they need the extra protection from dragons, who are just as susceptible to death as they are but have much more protection." He sighed sadly, wings drooping. "We protect them, and in return, they will heal us."

"I see. That seems like a fair trade," the human stated, nodding. "You both get something you need."

"Unicorns also make good company. They're good conversationalists. They're one of the only other creatures that know everything, and it's nice to have someone to speak with." Pater brought his wings up again, straightening himself, eyes glinting with pain and anger. "One of the Golden Ones killed my closest friend, all because she wanted his horn; the touch of a unicorn's horn can heal any corporeal wound. She believed dragons wouldn't hurt her in revenge because she was still training her successor. She was wrong." His eyes narrowed. "All of the Golden Ones have been little fools. She was one of the worst."

Seto frowned in confusion. "All of them have been little fools? What is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean no disrespect." The dragon sighed tiredly, then looked back down at him. "Sometimes, being a fool isn't a bad thing. Some believe it's a defense mechanism against being hurt. But all of the Golden Ones have been little fools. Caring little fools, but fools just the same." His eyes darkened in pain. "They don't realize they're being hurt until it's too late, and then they disallow it to happen again. It's their defense, and usually their offense as well."

"…And that's why a Golden One's mate has to be able to take care of them," the brunet stated thoughtfully. "Because if someone's taking care of them, it usually means that that person won't hurt them."

The dragon nodded, a sad, pitying look on his face. "Clever little fools, neh?"

"…Yeah. Clever little fools," the human replied thoughtfully.

There was a few minutes of silence before Pater asked, "So, when do you and the Golden One plan on having kits?"

Seto jerked around to face him, tripped over a root, and fell down, letting out a muffled curse. "!!! What do you mean, when do we plan on having kits?!" he exclaimed, once he'd righted himself into a sitting position.

The dragon raised a brow. "Well, the Golden One does need a direct descendent of the opposite gender. It can't be a niece or nephew, or a cousin. …And I doubt you'll allow him to mate with someone else just for children. So when are the two of you planning on having kits?"

The brunet blinked at him for a few minutes silently, then sighed and crossed his arms. "You realize that both of us are males, right? There's just no way—"

"If the Golden One can give a frank a female reproductive system, he can give himself one. …Or you one, but I think Joseph would look much prettier with his stomach swollen with child."

Seto tilted his head at the thought, blushing a little as his mind came up with the picture of a pregnant Joey. It would be sort of… cute, seeing Joey pregnant. He then flinched when he realized just how much pain he might be put through if he ever suggested such a thing to the blond. "We'll… have to discuss it."

Pater smirked. "Meaning that you'll mention it then run far, far away. Kudos, Seto. You're learning what it truly means to be the sire." He snorted, unable to help his amusement. "You may be the disciplinarian, but really, the dame is the quickest to anger."

"Shut up! Maybe I won't let you eat Gozaburo after all!" the brunet exclaimed, blushing again. He knew it was true; Joey was quicker to anger than he was and was more physical about it. …He'd deal with that later, when they came to it.

The dragon jumped slightly as the Dragon Master was suddenly thrown forward into his leg with a sickening crunch, body still crackling with electricity, then turned his head and roared at the perpetrator. "Coward!"

Gozaburo smirked, ribbons of electricity still dancing around his hands. "It's not my fault the faggot's gone soft and has decided to stop paying attention to watch behind his back."

As Seto stood, the dragon snarled. "I'll kill you! Can I eat him yet?" he asked, looking down at the brunet.

The teen growled and stood up straight from leaning against the dragon for support. "I wanna hurt him first. You can have him when I'm finished. …Or when I'm losing, either way."

Pater snorted in annoyance but nodded just the same. "Fine. Then we'll see if humans are as crunchy-delicious as they make themselves out to be!"

Seto felt confident that he'd win this. He couldn't lose either way; either he would win the fight and Pater would eat Gozaburo, or Gozaburo would win the fight and Pater would eat him anyway. He appeared dead-set on finding out of humans were 'crunchy-delicious.'

"Where'd you take Kaii?" the brunet asked sharply, turning his attention to his step-father.

The other man's smirk grew. "You mean that stupid baby dragon? I've taken him to the other brat." He threw his head back in an evil cackle, causing the other two to flinch at the menace and ill-intent. "You should have heard that dragon scream when the brat ripped his first scale out!"

Seto let out an infuriated roar, eyes glowing brightly as he folded his wings back and ran forward, mindless of the electricity striking him. This man had hurt his baby.

-x-x-x-

Joey let out a weak cry of agony as he felt a shot of pain go through his chest with each heart beat; seconds later, the pain was gone, leaving him with just a dull ache. Clutching his chest in confusion, he stopped walking, terrified it would happen again. It did—not more than two minutes later, another few thumps of pain shot through his chest like lightning, making him cry out again. "What's happenin' t' me-?!"

"It's called 'motherly instincts.'"

Jumping, the blond yipped, then turned around quickly, only to find a very smug, mean-looking owl peering at him from the branch of a tree. "What the hell are you?!"

"I am a strix [2]. …An owl, basically, that eats carrion." She hopped forward a few branches to be able see him better. "And usually I don't care what happens to other creatures, but I can see that you are the Golden One and I just can't let a new mother suffer when you're obviously so confused and upset."

The human blinked up at the small owl, confused. "Motherly instincts?"

"Your bond, with the child. The child is being hurt, and therefore you feel that hurt, so you feel a greater need to get to the child." The strix nodded slightly when she saw the fire of rage light up the blond's eyes. "Yes, like that. …And… where are you trying to go again?"

"I'm lookin' for that bastard Akuju!" Joey snapped, crossing his arms. The only thing keeping him in place was the thought that maybe this creature could help him.

At that, the owl let out a startled screech, then narrowed her eyes. "I see. He's got your child. I'll show you then." Sighing, she turned to glare into the hollow of the tree she was sitting in. "Stay here or I'll come back and eat your bones." She was answered by soft, short squawks of complaint, in which she let out another screech—a warning one, this time. "Stay in your room!"

Joey could have sworn he heard a bunch of small voices complain 'aw, mom,' but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he obediently trotted after her as she took flight.

-x-x-x-

"I believe humans have given themselves too much credit. They taste terribly bland. Perhaps some soy sauce." He paused. "I will admit, though. They are indeed very crunchy. Not crunchy-delicious, though. …More like crunchy-blah."

Seto groaned and rest a hand on his stomach, eye twitching slightly. "Please stop picking your teeth in front of me." When the dragon merely shot him a dirty look, he groaned again and bent down at the waist, covering his stomach. "Mm, that was so gross…" He winced as he heard Pater slurp, claws still picking at his teeth, and tried to think of what had led up to this moment, instead of what was actually happening, because it appeared that he didn't have a strong stomach when it came to dragons eating people.

The fight with Gozaburo had started out easily enough. Knowing he'd had the upper hand physically, because he was younger and had was more used to his dragon wings and tail—he could see the old man was still having a few problems with it—he dashed at him and tackled him to the ground, only to get a face-full of fire. Stunned, he'd fallen back, allowing his step-father to get the upper hand and throw him to the ground, electrocuting him until he stopped twitching.

He had gone blank for a few minutes after that, feeling as if he was still frying from the inside, but when he finally came back to himself, he could see the man had smashed into a tree—scratch that, through the tree. He'd snapped it in half, and the top part had fallen to the side, nearly crushing him.

Apparently, Pater had gotten upset that his favored Dragon Master was being totally owned, so he'd casually slapped the man away from him.

Seto had never been one to spurn help when he could tell he needed it, so he took the time Gozaburo needed to get back on his feet to form a ball of electricity to rival his step-father's seemingly natural power (which pissed him off to no end). Once the man had gotten to his feet, he threw it, sending him back into another tree. Luckily, this one didn't break, and Seto was pleased to find that the creatures of Mythaven were on his side when a few thunderbirds [3] let out startled screeches and began spitting lightning at him. …One even turned and lifted its tail to poop on him.

He liked that bird.

Gozaburo snarled at the birds, hands crackling with electricity again, and Seto found himself terrified for the birds, even though they really didn't know him. So, instead of leaving them to be fried, he set his step-father's mustache on fire. He'd been aiming for his head, but… mustache was close enough.

When the man saw how desperate he was to save the birds, he smirked and reached up to grab one, the other hand batting out the fire on his face; he seemed surprisingly unalarmed for someone who had just had their mustache lit aflame! It let out a startled squawk, flaring with electricity, and began flapping frantically. The other thunderbirds began to cry out and began flapping around, spitting tiny balls of lightning at him again, furiously trying to defend their friend.

Seto knew there was nothing he could do, so he just watched helplessly as the bird began to squeal in pain.

Pater snarled and slapped him with his tail again. There was a burst of feathers, and then the thunderbird was hurriedly flapping away, and the tiny flock of five flew as fast as they could away. Then, the dragon let out an infuriated roar, and the brunet had watched in horror as the dragon dipped his head and snapped the man up.

He hadn't thought he'd care so much. He had thought he wanted the old man dead. But when the man had screamed and disappeared between those big, glistening white teeth, and the white had suddenly been stained with red, all he could do was turn and heave all the contents of his stomach out.

His stomach was still churning.

Pater coughed momentarily, then spat out a bone. After cleaning his teeth a few seconds longer, he looked down at the brunet and smiled, exposing once again shiny white teeth. "Shall we go then?"

Seto stared up at him in horror, then turned and heaved again. "Blorcgh!"

-x-x-x-

Joey stared up at the black, spiky castle in awe. Something so evil and ugly shouldn't have been in someplace so beautiful. It pierced the sky with pointy spires and made the whole scene so hideous it could probably induce shivers from the Devil himself.

The strix looked entirely unperturbed. Preening herself for a moment, she lifted her head and looked at him from on his shoulder. She fluffed her feathers affectionately and preened him for a moment, then took flight. "I guess we'll see you soon. Try not to be a sex slave when that happens!"

The blond turned to watch her go sourly. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"They are so often seen as bringers of ill omen that they refuse to believe in luck," Fenrir stated, slinking out from behind some bushes. "And they refuse to delude themselves. They know there is a possibility that you could lose; they will not hide that fact from you, either. They believe they are saying it for your own good." He offered a crooked smile. "She wishes you well in your plight. That in itself is saying something."

Joey crossed his arms and huffed, only to suddenly clutch at his chest and let out a small cry of pain. "Nn-! Kaii!" He looked up at the big, black cast-iron doors and bit his bottom lip, tears of pain welling up in his eyes. "…Kaii…"

Fenrir scowled, then let out an infuriated roar and ran at the door, growing in size with each step before he crashed into the metal, making the metal bend and buckle, and the hinges screeched and groaned in protest. He took a few steps back, then slammed into the door again, wrenching it open a few feet. He retreated a bit more for another lunge.

"Joseph, you can squeeze through there. Go ahead to your kit; I will follow once I have gotten to doors open wide enough for me." His eyes flared brighter with angry flames. "Hurry! Before he hurts your child even more!"

The blond didn't need to be told twice; slipping through the small space between the doors, he ran into the castle and sensed around for Kaii. He wasn't too far away, so he ran toward the stairs, hoping desperately that his baby wasn't hurt too badly.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

[1] Fenrir is a monstrous wolf from Norse mythology. He is a son of Loki, one of the Norse gods, and is the father of the wolves Sköll (who chases the sun, trying to eat it) and his brother Hati Hróõvitnisson (who chases the moon to try and eat it), and is foretold to break from his bonds and eat Odin during the events of Ragnarök.

If you want to know anything other than the basics, you may look on wikipedia. I checked, and it's surprisingly accurate.

[2] A strix is a bird of ill-omen from ancient Roman mythology. They're usually described as nocturnal and that they usually feed on human flesh and blood. They're a rather morbid creature. The name is Greek in origin, though, and it means owl, which the bird is usually identified with.

[3] Thunderbirds are usually very large (wikipedia if you don't know what a thunderbird is; I would hope, however, that you do), but I decided it would be cute if a bunch of tiny little birds tried to help Seto. …Especially if one pooped on him.

And Next Chapter: Joey faces off with Akuju as Seto tries to make his way to the castle to help! Will he make it in time? Will Joey be okay when he gets there? Will Joey win the fight? Tune in next time!

Dude, I totally didn't mean to sound like one of those TV announcer guys. *dies*