Author's Voice: If you are squeamish, skip the first two sections of this part. If you're not a yaoi fan, skip the last section of this part. If you are a squeamish yaoi hater... why the hell are you reading this? How many warnings do I have to put on a story to keep people who aren't yaoi fans from reading this stuff? It's not like I'm forcing you to click on my story and then gluing your eyelids open so you absolutely have to read it. (Therefore, if you flame me, I will have a good time pointing and laughing at you from my computer chair. Cause if you're sick enough to read things you hate, you're the one who's got issues, man, not me.)
Part 7: All Murder, All Guts, All Fun
The mausoleum's hollow silence hardly phased the two sisters as they traversed through the hallways of the hallowed burial grounds of the Fatima Dynasty. Margie skipped along, just ahead of them, a basket full of goodies on her arm for the workers who were clearing out the muck from Edbart's tomb. Sigurd has ordered the work done just before leaving with Bart, and there were plenty of willing refugees located for the project. Most were willing to do whatever was needed to repay the kindness of Nisan's residents. Though it wasn't the most thrilling of jobs, Margie never heard a one of them raise a voice in complaint. The first day had been a bit harrowing, people were a little afraid to go inside. But, after someone brought in lights and took the bull by the horns and got to work, everyone else quickly pitched in, figuring the sooner they cleaned things up, the sooner they'd be able to perform a cleansing and exorcise whatever demons might reside there. Everyone was sure to leave by nightfall and no one arrived to continue till well after daylight. This was Margie's insistence, since everything seemed better during the daytime. Sigurd also told her not to take any risks.
So, this early morning, Margie had been up very early with the Sisters to make a huge breakfast for everyone and bring it to them. Some of the workers were silly enough to head straight into the mausoleum and not sit down to eat first. Those that did would probably enjoy a sugar roll anyway. Besides, any leftovers would be devoured by noontime, of that she was sure. She carried the basket full of the cinnamon and sugar rolls, while the sisters carried the rest, warm foods held in containers meant to hold in the heat as well as paper plates and cups and napkins. It was going to be a grand affair and would surely bring up everyone's spirits.
But, in turning that last corridor toward the tomb, Margie had to pause and stare. The hallway was not full of bustling workers chatting amongst one another while working hard on cleaning up the mess. The basket dropped to the ground, spilling part of its contents, as her hands rose to her face, head shaking in disbelief. The Sisters behind her gasped almost in unison, also dropping their loads as they rushed up to Margie's side to grab her arms and start dragging her backwards.
The stench of death hung with a grim heaviness in the air. Dark red blood pooled along the tile floor, some of it smeared and splattered across the rough hewn walls. Bodies littered the ground like broken dolls, eyes lifelessly staring at nothing, mouths still hanging open with a last scream of terror. In the midst of it all crouched a lone figure, a man dressed in tattered blue robes. Holding onto one of the bodies, his head was practically buried in the chest cavity of the victim, slurping in a disgusting and ill mannered desperation. The head lifted as if he sensed new life having just arrived and Margie screamed.
The bloodied face belonged to Edbart Fatima IV.
Fei and Elly were just heading toward the infirmary when the earthquake struck. Starting with just a tremor, pretty soon everything was swaying precariously, tossed about as if someone picked up the planet, thought it was a snow globe, and gave it a little shake. Grabbing Elly's hand, Fei lead her off to one of the nearest doorways, reaching it just as the quake ended, leaving everything unnaturally still and silent in its wake.
"Figures," Fei muttered, letting Elly go so both could drift back to the roadway as residents slowly filtered out of their homes to look for any damage.
"Is this place earthquake prone?" Elly queried. Margie never mentioned them, and she'd never felt anything like it in all the time she'd spent in Nisan. Her previous memories, from another life, did not recall such occurrences, either.
"I don't think so, but anything is possible," Fei replied with a shrug, "We probably should check on the infirmary, though, make sure Doc is ok."
Elly certainly didn't argue, her pace hurried without running. Citan stood in the doorway, as if he expected them to arrive any moment and already wore that soft, quiet smile, the one that reassured everyone, no matter what the situation.
"Everything is fine. My, that was quite a shake up wasn't it?" he said before either of them could ask a thing.
"No one was hurt?" Elly asked, just to be sure. The doctor shook his head, gesturing for the pair to join him inside so they could see for themselves. Those mutants still under the care of the doctor were mostly in bed, a few of them healed enough to help him with the others. Their mutations were slowly being controlled, and there were precious few left, now. This was good, though Elly prayed daily that they could be healed sooner. She feared that after so long, there might not be a way to cure the most serious of cases. Citan merely assured her that eventually a cure would be discovered and then the last of Krelian and Deus' machinations would be eliminated. Man would be completely and blessedly free.
"Guess it didn't last long enough to do much damage," Fei mused with a shrug of his shoulders, "It's still kinda odd though, Nisan's not known to be earthquake prone."
"Nearly anywhere can have the occasional earthquake, Fei," Citan replied in his logical manner, "Though I must admit, it was a touch unexpected here."
Elly set a hand on one hip, finally convinced that all was right with the world. Turning toward Citan, she lifted a finger as if she were about to ask him something, when the sound of feet pounding against the cobblestones outside garnered everyone's attention. The door swung open almost violently, one of the Sisters from the cathedral standing there, gripping the doorframe in order to catch her breath and not fall to her knee. "Doctor Uzuki..." she gasped, one hand now against her chest, "Please come with us. Sister Arella, she's dying. The Mother... we don't know what's happened."
Without wasting words, Citan grabbed his bag and followed the Sister out the door and back toward the cathedral, Fei and Elly on his heels. Just the mention of Margie possibly being hurt was enough to grant all of them the impetus to move faster. Lead through the grand hallways, up to the second floor. Even Citan was stunned by the sight of the wounded sister. Wrapped in gauze and blankets, it was clear that Arella did not have long to live. Blood foamed at the corners of her lips as she gasped for breath. Her torso had been nearly completely torn open, the whites of her ribs visible, some of which had been cracked. Her skin was so pale it was nearly ashen and it was clear death was imminent. Elly covered her face in her hands, turning away from the sight. She'd seen mutations and wounds and blood and death before, but that didn't make seeing it again any easier. Fei turned in toward her, wrapping an arm around her to pull her in against him, letting her rest her head against his chest to comfort her.
Laying a hand on the woman's forehead, Citan sighed, "Arella, you are living now by sheer willpower and there is nothing I can do for you. Tell your story and then go in peace." His hand glowed soon after that, at least helping to comfort the dying woman in her last moments.
"Below, took the Mother. His majesty," she gasped between small rivulets of blood coughed up to run down her cheeks. "Everyone dead." If she had anything else to say, it would remain unspoken as her eyes slowly closed and she gasped her last breath. Citan lowered his gaze, closing his eyes for a moment as if in reverence for the dead. His hand withdrew, ceasing its healing glow. Those Sisters in the room immediately began last rites though tears clearly shone in their eyes.
"Come," the doctor whispered to Fei and Elly, resting a hand briefly on Fei's shoulder to push him toward the door. Once outside, he made sure the door was shut behind them, letting the Sisters grieve in peace.
"I don't understand, she said His Majesty. Did she mean Bart?" Fei asked as the descended back to the main floor. Elly walked alongside him in a subdued manner, holding his hand loosely. Death never ceased to affect her, no matter how often she saw it.
"I doubt it, he's back in Aveh by now and I'm sure we would have heard from Sigurd if he had left again," Citan replied, adjusting his glasses, "Sigurd mentioned that Bart was babbling about hearing his father that night he ran into the mausoleum. I believe Sister Arella was trying to warn us that it was King Edbart."
"King Edbart?" Elly blurted out, "We all saw his body, he's dead, Citan."
"I doubt it's the real King, Elly. Though I only heard vicariously, Edbart IV was a gentle and peaceful ruler before Shakhan's coup. However, we don't know what was done to him, or to his body, while Shakhan sat on the throne."
"If he has Margie though..." Fei trailed off, not really wanting to finish the sentence.
"Margie may be alive still. She is a Fatima, after all, and if Edbart has been calling for Bart, he may have a use for her. We shouldn't give up hope just yet," Citan said, though the thought did make him pause, thoughtfully looking toward the floor while rubbing his chin. "We shouldn't dally, however. Time is of the essence if we are to rescue her before anything harmful may be done. Come, we'll contact Sigurd and then see what we can do to find her."
Morning sunlight streamed in through the open curtains of the balcony. Sigurd had actually done that earlier, tiptoeing into the room when he realized the pair on the bed were still sound asleep and curled around one another. He figured that the sun would eventually wind around to shine on them and that would finally waken them. Billy was the first to be roused by the warmth he felt against his cheek, blinking drowsily before lifting a hand to shield his face from the intruding light. Bart stirred without waking, murmuring something incoherent. This gave the former Etone time to marvel at the youth lying beside him. Tentatively he touched his face, feeling his heart soar when Bart responded nuzzling into the touch. Oh there was the possibility that he wouldn't want this if he weren't half asleep, but Billy could always hope.
"Surprised you haven't tried to kiss me yet," Bart mumbled, revealing that he really was awake. That one blue eye opened soon afterwards, grinning at Billy as a touch of pink colored his cheeks. He'd been caught, but the king didn't seem to mind. Since that was the case, he didn't stop gliding his fingers over the other's cheek, drifting up his temple to finally run his fingers through that long, sungold hair.
"I thought you were asleep... it wouldn't be right to steal a kiss. I mean, what if you didn't want it?" he finally replied. It only remotely dawned on him that Bart seemed to be returning the affection. He wasn't kicking the former Etone out of his bed and calling him a pervert.
"Besides," he added, as an afterthought, "I've never kissed anyone before."
A golden brow shot up at that admission and Bart propped himself up on one elbow, "Somehow, that doesn't exactly surprise me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," Bart replied and then leaned in and kissed him.
Billy's eyes widened in surprise, lying there in a stiff manner initially. Then it suddenly dawned on him that Bart was kissing him, which is what he'd been wanting for quite some time now and he finally relaxed and closed his eyes, yielding to the king who seemed far more experienced with this sort of thing. Bart was fairly sure Billy had little to no experience, and kept it gentle, lips brushing against the former Etone's lazily until he felt him begin to relax. To his surprise, it was Billy who carried things further, pressing in a little closer to deepen the kiss, fingers trailing down his cheek and then his throat to draw a shudder out of Aveh's King.
"If that was your first kiss..." Bart trailed off in a quiet, awed tone of voice as they parted. Billy averted his eyes, cursing himself for the blush he knew heated his cheeks.
"I have a good teacher," he finally replied as Bart just chuckled at him, "What? Oh stop laughing at me. So I'm not an experienced slut like you are."
"Slut?" Bart laughed incredulously, "En guarde, Billy Lee Black!" He reached for one of the huge feather pillows and fully intended to whack the former Etone with it except that Billy saw this one coming and grabbed the other one first, pillows meeting one another with a dull thump. Laughter filled the room from both teens as they repeatedly tried to whack one another, neither getting the upper hand as they scooted back and forth and around on the huge bed. Eventually Bart cheated and grabbed Billy's pillow, yanking it away from him before tossing both pillows aside and tackling the other teen, pinning him down against the bed.
"Touché Bart! You win!" Billy laughed, not bothering to squirm out of the embrace as he chest heaved for breath from his exertions. "So... whatcha gonna do now?"
Bart looked a bit thoughtful for a moment, squinting that one blue eye at him as he considered his options. "Billy... you know, if we, you know, do this... I have to marry Margie. Even if I don't marry her, they'll find someone else for me." It was only right that Billy knew what his obligations were. As a king, he only had some much freedom to do as he wished.
"I know," Billy replied, sobering up rather quickly, "You're the King, you have to have an heir and I'm afraid I don't have the right equipment for that. I don't need to be in the spotlight, Bart... I just want to be with you. I love you..."
Hearing that, Bart took a deep breath, uncertain for the moment how to handle it. Billy loved him, but did he feel the same? As far as he knew, he'd never felt that way toward anyone, even if everyone rumored that he felt something for his kid cousin. Apparently his indecision was written all over his face, for Billy reached up to pat his cheek and chuckled at him.
"I'm not asking you to immediately give your heart to me either, Bart. Nor do we just have to have sex, I'm not the type for one night stands. Give it time... if you want me, I'm here. If you don't, I'll always be there for you anyway as a friend."
Bart would have replied to that, even opened his mouth as his mind formed a response, except that the doors to the bedroom crashed open at that point, Sigurd barging in without knocking or even announcing his presence. Bart froze, not because he was caught hovering above Billy as if the two were lovers, but because he immediately felt the urgency from his brother and read the fear in the man's face. "What happened, Sigurd?"
"My apologies, Your Majesty," Sigurd said, realizing he most definitely interrupted something, but attempting not to show he noticed. Both youths took note of the formality in his voice and Bart backed off from Billy, letting him sit up. "The Nisan Mother is missing, they fear she's been taken captive by some unknown force that's living in the mausoleum. Most likely the one that has been after you, Young Master."
Bart paled considerably, scrambling out of the bed to get dressed, "Then we gotta go get her."
"No, Young Master, you mustn't. I came here to ask Billy to accompany me back to Nisan," Sigurd replied sternly, looking now to the former Etone.
Billy looked between the two brothers and quietly got up to get dressed, himself. He could already see the argument about to ensue between them. Bart clenched his fists together, knuckles nearly white. "There is no way you are leaving me here alone, Sigurd. Not unless you want to tie me down and even then I will find a way to get free and chase all of you down to Nisan. If I am King, then this is my order. I am going to Nisan and that is final."
"Bartolomei Roni Fatima," Sigurd snapped in a tone of voice neither had heard before. "This entity has been after you and you alone all this time. We cannot afford to lose you to it, do you understand? Let me take Billy back to Nisan, we'll join the others in locating Margie and see her to safety." His tone softened soon after, becoming much more of a plea, "Please, Bart... just this once listen to me. Aveh cannot afford to lose you. I can't afford to lose you, you are my only brother."
Bart flopped back down on the edge of the bed, ire clearly furrowing those golden brows together and his arms crossed over his chest. "Fine," he spat out, his anger tempered only by the empathy he sensed from his brother, the worry there. That and he'd never heard anyone use his full name before in that manner. It convinced him that one way or another, Sigurd would somehow make sure he stayed in Aveh. Billy quietly continued to get into his clothing, pulling the robe over his head and adjusting it accordingly over his frame.
Sigurd sighed as he read the hurt and anger in his brother's expression, as well as felt both in heaping emotional doses. "Thank you, Bart. I promise you, we'll make sure Margie is brought back safely. Billy, meet me at the docks when you're ready, and make sure you are well armed."
After Sigurd departed, Bart continued to sulk as Billy gathered his things, including the gunbelt and his ammunition belt. "Bart, it'll be ok... Sigurd is just worried. Hell, I would be, too. I've seen what happens to you at night, it's like you're not even in control of yourself."
"Billy, I have always been there for Margie... I just," he sighed and leaned against the bed post, "She's family. She and Sig are all I got left."
Billy sat down beside Bart, leaning in to kiss his cheek and then brush tangled gold hair idly, "And she'll be fine if you're not there this time. Do you trust me?"
"Of course..."
"Do you trust Sigurd?"
"Well, yeah."
"Well, then quit worrying," Billy grinned and got up again, heading toward the door only to pause there and turn. "We'll bring her out alive."
Despite himself, Bart actually chuckled, "You make it sound so simple... just, take care of you too, ok?"
"Don't worry about me, Bart. I've been dealing with undead for years now."
And with that, he left the King's bedchamber to find Sigurd and head for Nisan.
(To be continued...)