Flaming Mirror
Image--Epilog
Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of these characters, except
maybe Kyo since I made him up.
Note: I wasn't really planning
on putting an epilog up or anything but since Mystical Jade asked for a side
story or something, she talked me into it so I did! So, MJ, this is for you! ^_^
Fear raked his body as Kyo jerked himself up in a short
scream, ending in gasps. He looked
around the room, everything was still and unmoved, like it was before he went
to sleep.
Just a dream, he told himself in thought. Suddenly, the fear turned into nauseous ness
and he got out of bed and ran to the bathroom.
After he retched, he sat back against the wall. He felt better soon and flushed the toilet. Groaning, he pulled himself up and looked in
the mirror. A pale face looked back at
him. Kyo washed his face and hands then
rinsed his mouth.
I hope I didn't wake anyone; he thought and then
heard a noise down the kitchen. Too
late, it's probably that motor-mouth friend of Ryo's, Kento, I think. He stepped out of the bathroom and tried
to tiptoe back to his room without being seen.
"Kyo, you okay?" Ryo's
voice asked behind him.
"Ryo, uh," he turned around. Ryo was holding a glass of water. He forced
a smile; "I thought only Kento came to the kitchen during the night. Has he been giving you lessons?"
Ryo smiled back, "nah, it's just a really warm
night. Just wait until
August." He took a drink of his
water, "oh, I'm sorry, you want one?"
"Sure," Kyo said and followed him to the
kitchen. Ryo placed the glass in front of
him.
"You look kinda pale,"
Ryo said, "don't tell me you don't like Mia's cooking."
"You like her, don't'
you?" Kyo asked.
Ryo blushed, "well, yeaaaah." He began gulping down his water to avoid
from speaking about it.
Kyo took the hint and sipped his own water. It seemed to take away the queasiness. "I just had a bad dream; it made me
sick." Kyo explained.
"What was it?" Ryo
questioned.
"You don't want to
know," Kyo told him.
"Sure I do," Ryo said,
"why do you think I asked?"
Kyo didn't reply and gulped down
his water just like Ryo did.
"Please?" Ryo pleaded.
"Well, maybe it is better I tell you," Kyo
confessed, bringing down his glass "you are my brother after all,
"But this has to remain between us."
"I can keep a secret,"
Ryo promised.
"It's so crazy, I don't
know where to begin," Kyo groaned.
"Well, why don't you start at the beginning?" Ryo
joked. He gave a small laugh and immediately stopped when he saw the sad look
on his brother's face. "I'm
sorry…"
Kyo took a drink and sighed. "I guess it began the day we wore born and we were
separated. Badamon kidnapped me and handed me over to Tulpa, thinking I was
you."
"Wh-what?" Ryo
stammered
"He knew that we were going to be born," Kyo
explained, "and that one of us was going to have the armor of the wildfire
and soon all the other ronins would follow.
Since I was born first, Badamon expected I was the one. Maybe it was better this way because you
didn't deserve what I had to go through."
"You didn't either,
Kyo," Ryo told him.
"While you were raised here and the ancient blessed you
with armor of Wildfire," Kyo told him, his voice soft with sorrow and his
eyes brimming with tears, "I was brought up in the Netherworld and Tulpa
damned me with the armor of Hellfire…"
*******************************************************************
Five-year-old Kyo was treated like any other boy
wasn't. Instead of loved and cared for,
he was tortured and abused. Badamon
made him work hard and forced him to watch executions and beatings. Slowly, Kyo's innocence was fading
away. It was shredded to pieces, ripped
apart by Badamon and Tulpa. Sometimes,
though, Tulpa would show some kindness to him, when Kyo did his duties
before he had to be told. Kyo did it so
he wouldn't' be punished. Tulpa also
liked it when Kyo did what he was told right away.
"Someday, Kyo," Tulpa told him, "I will make
you my most high warrior. You will be
the best!"
"Thank you, Lord
Tulpa," Kyo muttered.
"Let's prepare you,"
Tulpa said. Badamon appeared.
"Come with me, Kyo,"
Badamon ordered.
Kyo wasn't going to argue.
He led him to a pit with yellow yuck. (That stuff Anubis was in.) The
second he looked at it, he gasped. He
knew what that pit was. He hated that
place. Badamon would sometimes punish
him and put him in there for an hour or so.
"No, please!" Kyo begged, tugging on Badamon,
"don't put me in there! I hate
that place! It's terrible; it can kill
me!"
"This can make you
stronger, Kyo," Badamon told him and pushed him in the pit.
"Nooo!" Kyo screamed. The yellow stuff went up to his neck, making it hard for him to
move. "Get me out of here!"
It didn't end there, but it did make Kyo stronger, at age
twelve, he received the armor of Hellfire.
Tulpa held his hand up to him and Kyo wore first the sub
armor, dark gray and dark red in color, followed by the rest of the Hellfire
armor. Kyo looked down at himself and
grinned. It was not the innocent smile
he once had, instead, it looked malicious.
"You are now a warrior of the netherworld," Tulpa
told him, "Use your armor of Hellfire well."
"Yes, master," he nodded, still grinning the
malicious grin.
"I would like to see its power," Badamon said.
"I am also a little curious," Tulpa confessed,
"let's have a look."
Badamon clicked his fingers and dynasty soldiers came out,
dragging a tied up young girl behind them.
They forced her to her knees and left her in front of Kyo.
"Eliminate her," Tulpa commanded.
What? Kyo thought.
The malicious grin disappeared and changed to a confused frown. I can't do this.
"Why are you stalling, boy?" Tulpa demanded. "Prove your worthiness of the armor
before I take it away!"
All right, Kyo thought, just don't think about
it. Just do it. Don't even look at her.
The girl raised her eyes and looked at him pleadingly.
Don't look at me like that, Kyo wanted to say. Don't look at me! He couldn't take
his eyes off of hers. He would never
forget those eyes. They looked like a
pair of shiny emeralds that were outlined in tears and they
stared him down. Her auburn hair was
wet and in a mess around her shoulders.
Kyo swallowed and took out his swords. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her
so only she could hear. He did not want
everyone to think he was unworthy of the armor and then Tulpa would probably
torture him again.
"I understand," she whispered back.
"SKULL FIRE RUSH!" he sent a flaming skull to the
girl. It opened its mouth and swallowed her in flames. He could hear her screaming as she burned at
it made him cringe inside. Her
screaming never ended; it was locked inside his mind. She lied there on the stone floor, burns and
scars all over her body.
Kyo had to fight himself not to run over to her, begging for
her forgiveness and holding her tight. I
didn't even know her name, he thought to himself, looking at her with
sorrow in his eyes. He wanted to look
away but he couldn't Kyo wished he would die or be put in the sulfur pit. He'd
do anything, anything but this. If only
he were braver, he would have stood up to Tulpa and said, "No, Tulpa, I
won't!" and he would run away with the girl. But he was too afraid. Kyo just wasn't strong enough, not brave enough.
He really didn't want to harm her. It
was the hardest thing he had to do. Forgive
me, he thought; watching a soldier carry her scorched corpse away, I
didn't want to.
"What have I done?" Kyo asked himself with a soft
whisper, tears slowly forming in his eyes.
"Excellent work, Kyo," Tulpa said, satisfied.
As Kyo nodded and cleared his throat, the malicious grin
came up on his face though he felt horrible inside, as if someone took control
of his facial muscles. His kanji of
innocence glowed and quickly faded away.
What's happening to me? Kyo wondered.
When Kyo became fifteen, the age of his brother, he learned
of the warlords. He wasn't sure how
long they been there, but Tulpa talked to them like he knew their entire souls.
They didn't know of Kyo because he figured he wasn't supposed to know about
them. But when Tulpa and Badamon found
this out when Kyo asked about them, Tulpa ordered him never to speak to the
warlords then threw him in the sulfur pit.
"My warlords," Kyo heard Tulpa begin, "the
ronin warriors are upon us. I have
waited for this for a thousand years! I
will get those armors."
"Yes, Master Tulpa," Anubis was the first to
speak, "as you wish."
"We also have waited long for this," Kale
added. His grin was more malicious than
Kyo and Kyo touched his own lips.
I'll turn into him, he thought, all of them.
"I will have them swimming in my pool of venom in no
time!" Sekhmet laughed.
Dais said nothing instead he nodded. The eye patch over his left eye made Kyo
shiver.
"Destroy them!" Tulpa bellowed.
Kyo would sometimes watch the battles between the ronins and
the warlords. He wanted to know who
they were. They're boys, like me. Kyo observed. He fixed his eyes on the one in the red armor that resembled his
own.
That guy, Kyo thought, why do I get the feeling
like I know him?
He saw Ryo's helmet fall off and Kyo gasped, "He looks
like me!"
That day he heard the warlords report back to Tulpa and he
was very angry. "How could you
fail me??! Out of my sight!"
Kyo strained to hear him talk to Badamon because he knew
that he ought to hear what they were going to say.
"Wildfire is alive," Tulpa said, "but how…. I
thought the one we captured was the one?"
"Kyo was the first born," Badamon said, "I
figured…."
"You figured wrong, Badamon!" Tulpa growled,
"The real wildfire is here. I
tried to prevent this and now…"
"Wildfire is only a boy, he cannot be all that
powerful," Badamon told him.
"Be gone…bring me Lady Kayura," he ordered.
Kyo's breath was nearly taken away as he set his eyes on the
female soldier. Her bluish-black hair
and dark eyes were so beautiful, more than any pair of eyes or head of hair he
has ever seen. Then his memory reminded
him of the girl he was forced to destroy, her beautiful, sad, pleading green eyes. Kyo felt sad for a small moment, wishing
that the girl would come back. He pushed the memory out of his mind.
"You sent for me, Master Tulpa?" she smiled and
bowed her head.
"My warlords are not doing their job," Tulpa
said. "Why don't you pay them a
visit?"
She giggled, "Yes, Master Tulpa, one they will never
forget!"
Something happened to Anubis. He began to question Tulpa's orders and one time did not obey
him. Kyo could his screams coming from
the sulfur pit.
Oh no, Kyo thought.
He followed the screams and found Anubis in the pit. He was frozen were he stood, unable to take
his eyes off Anubis. Him too?
"Please Master!" Anubis cried.
Kyo couldn't take his cries. It was just as bad as he was there in that pit. Kyo turned away and sank to his knees. Make him stop, make him stop, make him
stop…. stop screaming, Anubis! Stop
screaming, I can't take it! Enough,
enough, enough!
"Take me out!" Anubis shouted.
Please stop, please stop, tears blinded Kyo's
vision. He wanted to help Anubis and
part of him didn't even care. Part of
him was smiling at the sound of his painful screams and the other was wailing,
along with Anubis.
Kyo remembered the girl, her emerald eyes. They made him stop for a moment. Why should
he care what happened to her? But her
eyes, her face, looked so innocent, like the way Kyo used to be.
Eventually, Anubis stopped screaming and Kyo heard the
ancient's voice. Anubis ran away and
Kyo was grateful and also angry that he got away.
I can't stand it anymore, Kyo thought to
himself. It's all Ryo's fault. I should have been the wearer of the
wildfire armor. He should have suffered
as I have. It's he who should be here,
not me! I don't belong here! Kyo clenched his teeth and tightened his
fists. I'll make him pay for all the
torture and pain I went through. I am going to make him BURN! I am Kyo of the Hellfire!
Kyo stopped speaking to wipe the tears that fell from his
eyes. "S-sorry, I guess I'm not over it
yet." He mumbled in embarrassment.
Ryo sniffed. He
himself was close to tears. He felt as
if the same has happened to him. Hearing Kyo's story made Ryo want to destroy
Tulpa all over again. "Man, I just
can't believe it. That's the worst
story I ever heard." He almost felt
sick after hearing Kyo's story.
"I didn't really mean all that," Kyo apologized. "All those nasty things I thought about you
and said to you."
"Hey, Tulpa tortured you," Ryo said, "I understand. It could make anyone feel that way. It's not your fault, Kyo."
Kyo sighed, "Thanks, Ryo."
Ryo nodded for him to finish.
"Well, I was a bit happy but also angry when the Dark
Warlords turned against Tulpa. If I was
strong enough, I would have followed them, but I guess I couldn't because I was
afraid of what Tulpa would do to me…"
Kyo could hear the ronins and the warlords shout their
attacks to Tulpa. They knew why Tulpa
wanted them. Anubis' death proved
it. It was only their souls and their
armor Tulpa was after and the warlords were not going to give either up to the
likes of him. Kyo however, could not
follow the warlord's example. Maybe because he took Anubis' death so hard. Kyo wanted to be like Anubis one day. He was the first to realize Tulpa's plot. Kyo knew along but why couldn't he just
leave? Why was he so scared of
Tulpa? How come he wasn't brave like Ryo?
It's not fair, Kyo thought to himself. I don't deserve this. I didn't do anything wrong.
The temple was falling apart. Kyo had to make a run for
it. Although he should have been happy
that he was freed, he was just so angry to see it. He lived in the temple his whole life and now the only place he
ever could call home was gone.
Tulpa wanted to see the white armor of inferno and he
prompted the warriors to give their powers to Ryo. After seeing the brilliant armor up close, Tulpa wanted to have it
in his possession.
"Don't give it to him!" his friends cried.
"Yes, give it to him," Kyo whispered. "Then he will crush you!"
Ryo didn't do as his friends warned and gave it up, "You
want the armor of inferno, Tulpa?" Ryo teased, "Then try it on for size!"
Tulpa didn't feel any power, instead, pain. It wasn't as he expected. Ryo, somehow, was trapped inside of
Tulpa. He told his friends to finish
Tulpa. They didn't want to do it but he
said it was the only way.
"Yeah, kill him," Kyo said between his teeth with anger in
his eyes. The next second, his eyes
became innocent and he parted his mouth into a gasp. "No wait, don't."
The four warriors all gave a scream and ran to Tulpa. They were still screaming when they all
attacked Tulpa in different directions.
Tulpa was gone but Ryo was still trapped inside of him.
"Ryo!" Yuli cried, "I've got to do something." He raised the jewel of life and Ryo was
okay. {I can't really remember what happened
there, I just remember Yuli saved him with the jewel. I wish RW would come back!}
"Thanks, Yuli, you saved my life," Ryo said.
Yuli smiled and blushed.
Kyo couldn't believe it.
Ryo lived. He was happy for him
but he was also jealous and angry. He
lives! It's not fair!
Then Kyo knew what he had to do. If he wanted Ryo gone, he had to do it himself. It was his duty as Kyo of Hellfire. He had to make Ryo pay for every little
thing that Ryo had but Kyo didn't. Ryo
lived in the mortal world. He had
friends. He slept in a warm bed. Kyo lived in the Nether realm. He had no friends and slept on a cold stone
floor.
Kyo was stripped of all of his
innocence. All he wanted now was
revenge and he would not let anything stop him until he got it.
"I guess you could figure the rest out," Kyo groaned.
"Yeah," Ryo mumbled.
"I realize now," Kyo said, "it was better that I was
chosen. If Badamon got you instead…I
don't even want to think what would have happened."
"I'm sorry what you had to go through," Ryo sympathized, "no
one has to go through what you did."
"But it happened and there's nothing I can do about it," Kyo
said. "Now don't tell anyone about
this, alright? Your friends don't need
to know any more than they already do know—that we're twin brothers and I used
to be the evil one—they can't know abut this."
"I won't tell anyone," Ryo pledged.
"I'll be the one to tell them when the time is right," Kyo
sighed. "But in the meantime you keep
your mouth shut." He drank the rest of
his water and stood up. He was half way to his room when he turned around and
pointed to his twin, "I'm warning you Ryo," he grinned a half malicious, half
innocent grin, "I'm not as innocent as I look!" His kanji of innocence glowed
upon his forehead. He groaned.
Ryo sighed and rolled his eyes, "Sure, whatever you say…"
When Kyo fell back asleep, the queasiness subsided and
dreamed a happier dream.
The
End. How was that, guys? MJ, you'd better like it because I wrote it
just for you! (Wink) ^_~
