The Little Sprite

The Little Sprite

Chapter 38

Into The Lair of The Witch

"Marik." Marik stopped at the sound of his name. The wolf sprite turned around from the doorway to look at the person who had spoken to him. He had just finished receiving wishes of good luck from their group and had been about to head for Mai's lair when he had heard that one voice speak his name, that one voice that would make him drop everything he was doing in the next instant.

"Malik", Marik spoke as his eyes met a pair of pale lavender ones. "Did you come to give me a good luck kiss?"

There was a huff from the shorter sprite, followed by a grumble of: "In your dreams." Malik's expression was serious as he continued: "I came to ask you something."

"Sure", Marik said with a nod. "I'm all ears."

"You have a contract with Mai, even though it isn't exactly official", Malik said evenly. The fox sprite had not shaped it to be a question but merely reminded Marik that he had told the other this before. "If she told you to not take Jou from her hiding place, would you be forced to obey?"

Marik clicked his tongue, knowing the answer better than he would have liked to admit. After all, one did not want to be constantly reminded of one's limitations. Still, Marik had tested those limitations in question. He forced the disgust the thought woke in him out of his voice as he spoke: "It would have to be a direct order. She would have to say something like 'I order you to'. Otherwise I don't have to listen to her."

"I see", Malik mumbled in a thoughtful manner, his voice trailing off into a murmur. There was a brief pause before Malik's eyes seemed to sharpen and the fox questioned: "Is Mai aware of this?"

That was a very perceptive question, one that had Marik wishing that Malik had not been so quick on the intake. Before he could come up with a response that would mislead Malik from the real answer the smaller sprite spoke: "I see she does."

A moment passed as Marik waited for Malik to continue. Finally the fox sighed, closing his eyes briefly before locking gazes with Marik again and speaking: "Just…promise me that you won't get caught. I don't want…" The other trailed off then but it did not matter, because Marik understood what the other was trying to say. He did not want them to end up in a situation without a way out and one that would lead to only regret.

"No problem", Marik assured the smaller sprite. "I can take care of myself. I've made it through eighteen years, haven't I?"

"Hm", Malik hummed, not sounding convinced. "And how many times have you been in a conspiracy against that witch?"

"Good point", Marik said, shrugging one shoulder. "But then again, Mai has never had anyone conspiring against her before so I guess we're pretty even."

"Just don't be too certain of that", Malik said in a warning tone. "I will not be happy if I find out later on that you were caught red-handed."

A small smile came to Marik's lips and the wolf sprite reached out a hand to brush the tips of his fingers over Malik's cheek, murmuring gently: "Don't worry about me, Malik."

Flushing in an embarrassed manner Malik's eyes snapped away from Marik's own as the shorter sprite spluttered: "I don't-" Marik's hand went beneath Malik's chin, cutting the other male off. The lavender eyes met his darker violet once more and Marik licked his lips when he saw Malik worry his bottom lip.

In the next moment Malik released his bottom lip and brought his hands to Marik's shoulders, moving up to plant the briefest of kisses on the taller teen's lips. Marik gasped at the realization that Malik truly had kissed him after he had spent such a long time chasing after the other and the wonderful sensation was over far too soon for the wolf sprite's liking.

Complete silence fell over the hall and the two blonds simply stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Finally Malik moved away from Marik, leaving the wolf feeling cold. Still, Marik found himself smiling at the smaller boy before he spoke cheekily: "Now I just have to come back alright if I want more of that."

Malik blushed a dark shade of red then, turning his face to the side as he grumbled: "You got your good luck kiss. Just go."

A chuckle came from Marik in response before the tall sprite did as ordered.

&

"This is it then", Yugi spoke from his position curled up against Yami's side. The taller teen had an arm around his shoulders in a consoling manner as the two waited for it to become the time of their departure. Seto had stormed out of the room the instant Yugi had huddled himself against Yami and even though the small boy understood the brunet's feelings he could not deny himself something he so desperately needed. And he truly needed to be close to Yami now. Even though their contact was not of the intimate sort it was comforting to Yugi and the amethyst-eyed boy played with the golden necklace he had given to Yami what seemed like ages ago.

"The deciding battle", Yami added and buried his face in Yugi's hair. "You know I'll be there right beside you, facing her with you, right?"

Yugi nodded his head at the query, knowing very well that Yami would never abandon him in the face of danger. Quietly, his voice full of adoration and love, the former sprite uttered: "No matter what, we will defeat Mai together and free everyone she has enslaved."

"I just hope she doesn't plan on attacking us before we get to surprise her", Yami commented. "Because that would ruin everything."

"I'm sure it will be alright", Yugi assured his boyfriend. "We're the good guys, and good always triumphs over evil."

"Bah, what bull", came Bakura's voice from the other side of the sitting room, followed by a strangled 'oomph' when Ryou elbowed the taller albino in the side.

&

Everything was wrong, nothing was right. He knew this better than well and yet he could not bring himself to care about it. He could not remember much of anything and all of his senses had dulled so much that they were almost completely useless. He was aware of his name, however. His name was Katsuya but he did not really know what that was supposed to mean to him. A name was supposed to determine an object, give it form and purpose. Katsuya, however, did not feel like he had either of those two.

Everything was so fogged up that he could not concentrate on anything at all. His only moments of clarity came when Mistress gave him orders. That was when he knew what his purpose was and it was also the only time when the world around him existed to him. When Mistress was not there to give him instructions, he could not even find the strength to move his head and glance around the room he was in.

He stared straight ahead and even then he could not focus on what he was seeing. There was a face in front of him, the face of a person that stared right back at him in exactly the same manner that he stared at that person. An expressionless face faced an identical one; soulless brown eyes only saw the depths of their twins. It was an existence that brought nothing but despair with it and that was the only emotion Katsuya felt, even though he did not recognize it. The emotion was so weak on the surface, even though inside he was drowning in an endless ocean. There was nothing but the face opposite to his own, and that name.

Seto. It was a name that kept him afloat, made him want to glance around him and become aware once more. He wanted to remember the face the name belonged to, for he knew that if he could just see that face then he would remember everything else. He would know what was in the world outside of Mistress' words in his ear and her hands on his body and he would know what had come before this place, this place where he barely existed and was in danger of fading away during every moment that passed.

And then there were hands on him again. He could hear Mistress' voice in his ear, speaking about how beautiful he was and how beautiful and powerful their children would be. Katsuya did not find much interest in having offspring and told Mistress so. There was a bright, beautiful laugh before it was cut off abruptly and long-nailed fingers trailed down his chin and neck while Mistress' voice hissed that it did not matter what he thought, that she was the one making the decisions and that his job was to only follow her instructions.

It sounded like a simple enough existence and it had its appeal to Katsuya but if he accepted that fate, he would never find out just who Seto was. He knew Seto was a person, an important person who had a beauty even greater than the one Mistress displayed. It was hard to belief since she was pure perfection, he was not allowed to think otherwise, but somehow Katsuya knew that it was the truth. He was meant to be with Seto.

"What are you thinking about?" Mistress cooed softly to him and his clarity returned enough for him to know that Mistress was too close to him with her cleavage pressing against his back and arm as her fingers toyed with his hair. Her voice was pleasant as she commented softly: "It had better be me that you are thinking about when you know better than to think at all."

"I want to see Seto", Katsuya spoke before he could stop himself. "I should be with Seto. Can you take me to him?"

A long silence followed and Mistress' hands tightened in Katsuya's hair enough to make him grimace in pain. A brief hiss came out through his clenched teeth as Mistress snarled to him: "No, I can't take you to Seto." One of her hands left his hair to trail down his chest, exploring the forms of his body like so many times before. "You're mine now. You don't need Seto. You will need only me. You will love only me." The hand came down between his legs and pressed there firmly while soft, full lips brushed against the shell of his ear. "React for me a bit, wouldn't you, dear?"

Katsuya did not feel like reacting and the hand kneading his front felt uncomfortable to him. He turned his head to look into awesome eyes of deep amethyst before he spoke firmly: "Let me go."

"Temporarily only", came Mistress' threatening voice before she let go of him. "But I will never, never truly let you go. You belong to me now, even though you refuse to acknowledge it." She straightened her posture, her breasts coming into contact with Katsuya's face and still he did not react to the close proximity with anything other than displeasure.

"I see you're a bit of a wild dog", Mistress mumbled in a thoughtful manner. "I believe taming is in order…" Her talons brushed against the back of his neck. "I will train you to enjoy my touches, love." The fingers buried themselves into Katsuya's hair and she pulled his head back so that she could kiss his lips greedily. Katsuya allowed her to do as she pleased and after a short while Mistress pulled away and breathed out in a whisper. "And after I have you trained… Well, then you will make love to me." And with that she walked away.

Once again the world around Katsuya reverted back to the middle ground between clarity and fading away. With the last bits of awareness that he managed to cling to he was aware of the sound of a door opening and closing a lot more quietly than it had in Mistress' use.

Silence followed and then there was a face in Katsuya's line of sight. The person had tanner skin than Mistress and his eyes were a darker shade of violet. The new arrival was also clearly male and the features held some familiarity to Katsuya.

Where had Katsuya seen this person before? He could not remember any time, place or event but he became aware of a name that popped to his mind. Malik, or was it Marik? He was not sure which it was but he did not seem to be able to bring himself to care one way or the other.

"Hey there, dog boy", the person spoke and a hand landed on Katsuya's shoulder. It gave him something to focus on and now Katsuya was able to listen to whatever it was that the other wanted to say.

"Your lover isn't very happy with you right now", the newcomer said. "So, I'm here to deliver you off to someplace where mister lover boy can easily find you to give you whatever punishment he can cook up." There was a chuckle. "Though, I don't think you would mind it too much."

"Lover?" Katsuya questioned in confusion. He did not remember having a lover. Actually, he did not remember much of anything. Still, having some random stranger whose name you knew for some unexplainable reason come up to him and tell him that he knew his lover was very perplexing, not to mention unexpected.

"Yeah", the other spoke with an affirming nod. "That Seto-fellow. Remember?"

That got Katsuya's attention. This person knew Seto and not only that, but he was willing to take him to that special person. Suddenly the odd person was a lot more interesting to him.

"You'll take me to Seto?" Katsuya questioned and some of his inner eagerness actually made it to the outside, probably because the hand on his shoulder still helped him ground himself. "When will we leave?"

"Right now", the other person started but the words barely made themselves out from his lips when another voice bellowed: "Never!"

It was Mistress' voice and when the other pulled away from Katsuya to face her his hand left his shoulder, leaving Katsuya sinking into a thick fog once more. He struggled to stay present long enough to find out what Mistress was going to do but he was quickly losing interest in the world around him once again, and that included the person who… What was it that had been so interesting about that person in the first place? It seemed to have slipped his mind.

"Mai!" the other yelled in an angered manner. "You can't own a person completely! You can't own him and neither can you own me!"

There was a low laugh from Mistress, followed by chuckling that quickly turned into full-blown barks of laughter. The laughter was cut off in the same way it had been before, suddenly by the woman herself, and then she spoke in a cold and sinister tone of voice that was the complete opposite of the way she spoke to Katsuya: "No, I may not own you." There was an ominous pause and the next words Mistress uttered were the last ones Katsuya's mind registered. "But I can hurt you."

Even in his completely succumbed state Katsuya flinched when the first blood-curling scream reached his ears.

To be continued…

Ending Notes: Short chapter, so very sorry about that. And Katsuya's part was meant to seem a bit disoriented.

And sorry about taking forever to update. I had to stop writing for a while when my schedule got too busy and then I had difficulties with starting where I left off again.