Dragon Tears and Raven Curses - Chapter Sixteen

"Ryo!" "Yaaay!" "Weee!"
Ryo ducked under the onslaught of popped party decorations that flew at him. He grinned at the sight of seeing his old friends-the Troopers and Nasutei with Jun, now a handsome young man, Morhon, Tadashi, and Itsue though the last three were hardly old friends-gathered together dressed in their finest. Byakuen pressed himself against Ryo' side. The gruff tiger refused to be far from Ryo in any way, which was why everyone was gathered together in Nasutei's mansion. It allowed the tiger to roam freely without Ryo having to worry about leaving behind somewhere else for the sake of ignorant civilians.
He may have been gone for half a year, but twenty-four times that had passed without his realizing it. While he was still young and lithe though hardened and somewhat bitter from the harsh time he had suffered in the Realm of Chaos, the others had matured. Nasutei had a few streaks of gray in her rich hair, Shuu was sporting a crew cut and a pot belly which came from "my lovely's finest cooking". Touma wore his hair long and secured at the nape of his neck. Shin now wore glasses and had old slash-like scars across his face from a battle that took place more than a decade ago. Only Seiji was the one who seemed not to have changed anymore than Ryo, with the exception of the gold ring that he casually wore on his left ring finger.
"So," Ryo rubbed his hands together, "what has happened in the time that I've been gone?' He smiled sardonically at the others, but they didn't seem to notice.
"Marriage," Seiji began.
"Babies," Shin added.
"Lots of them," Shuu added dryly.
Touma laughed and pointed at Shuu. "Three sets of twins, one after the other in four years in his case!" The others joined in the laughter as Shuu rolled his eyes.
Seiji shrugged. "Widowed."
"Jobs and job changes," Shin said.
"Yeah, after you bought the company," Jun cut in. He smiled at Ryo and pointed at Nasutei. "Nobel prize winners," he said with a wink. Nasutei blushed as Ryo brightened and turned to her.
"For what?" he asked.
"Discovery of cold fusion," Nasutei said softly. She nudged Touma, who stood next to her. "He did most of the ground work though." Touma shrugged modestly as the others clambered for Ryo's attention.
So much had changed. Ryo didn't know whether or cry because of all the missed opportunities of sharing these precious memories with his friends or to be glad he was back and alive to hear what had passed.
Seiji had been married and windowed twice-the first wife was killed in a car accident two years into the marriage and he married three years later to a woman who would later die in four years from a rapidly spreading cancer. He had four children, all of who were currently staying with their aunt. ("I swear Yayoi means to corrupt them!")
Touma and Nasutei joined forced together to discover a new sort of energy (neither really had anything else to do at the time) and discovered how to create cold fusion almost four years ago. After they received the Nobel Prize, they got married to one another. Ryo smiled at the news and felt glad for them as he saw Touma droop a protective arm around Nasutei.
Shuu had married a childhood sweetheart together they had three sets of twins within the first five years of their marriage. He currently ran his family's restaurant "and a zoo."
Jin was a mangaka whose manga, Samurai Troopers (Shin: "Cheap ass is stealing all our adventures and making tons of money off of it without sharing any royalties!"), was just bought by a company named Sunset to be produced into an anime. Ryo laughed long and hard at that, the first time he had laughed at anything in ages and was absolutely grateful for it.
Shin had worked in a small aquarium shop until his mother died. He sold his half of the inherited pottery business to his sister who had inherited the other half, and then used the money to buy the aquarium shop where he went from being manager to owner. He too had gotten married, but unlike Shuu and his six children, he only had two girls with his wife.
Ryo avoided any questioning about his own six months in the Realm of Chaos for the most part, only giving a partial account to his roaming the forest endlessly until he chanced to cross the great-grandchildren of the Chief Magistrate of Chaos (he wondered briefly at the stricken look that crossed Morhon's features, but said nothing). He left out all accounts of dying, the despair he had felt, and the slaughter he raged against the attacking wolves. Seiji's cold lavender eyes told Ryo that he knew he was leaving out more than that, as did the others, but Tadashi changed the subject by announcing the contests he and Itsue had arranged.
Ryo played a wild game of soccer against the others, beating them all, and wrestled with Byakuen in the bright sunlight as the others gathered around Morhon's barbecue. Tadashi told stories of the Meiji War, which everyone listened to with deep interest. As night fell, people began to wander off to beds Nasutei had arranged, but not before telling Ryo how much he had been missed and that they hoped to see him again.
The next morning they would all leave for the lives they had made for themselves for better or for worse. Ryo could not sleep so he wandered out to a balcony. He had wrapped a sheet around his body, otherwise clad only in his sleeping shorts. He peered out across Nasutei's estate. The moonlight gleamed off the lake in the distance.
He detected footsteps and knew, from their unique sound, that they were Seiji's. He sighed; his hearing was sharper than he had expected. He felt rather than saw Seiji as he came to a stop at Ryo's left.
"So much has changed," Ryo whispered as he leaned against the balcony's railing. "A new energy that revolutionized our industry and still spreading throughout the world; everyone has grown up and moved onto to stable lives. Jun is a man instead of a boy." He sighed. "It will take a while to adjust."
Seiji was silent. He moved to lean against the railing beside Ryo. A soft wind stirred his bangs. "Surely it will be easier to adjust to this world than the one you were in previously." Ryo shrugged, neither agreeing or disagreeing. "Do you want to speak about it?"
Ryo eyed Seiji with a slight smile. "Is the psychiatrist asking me?" he wondered.
Seiji laughed softly and threw an arm around Ryo's shoulders. "No, a friend asks you. A friend who loves you dearly and never gave up in your one day returning."
Ryo stared at Seiji. "Really? You never gave up hope?"
"Certainly not. As long as you were alive there was always hope for you returning. And we could sense that, Ryo. We could sense you were alive and there was a chance-marginal as it may have seemed-that you would come back to us."
Ryo's expression turned glum. "Yeah," he said. "Being alive." He folded his arms depressively. Seiji rubbed Ryo's bare back.
"How many times did you die?"
Ryo shook his head as he couldn't help but smile. "That is what everyone asks. 'How many times have you died?' It's like they've expected me to die many times over." Seiji remained silent and Ryo rolled his eyes. "Seventeen times."
Seiji whistled. "Man, that is something you may never live down."
Ryo made a face. "Tell me about it," he grumbled. He pounded his fists suddenly against the railing. "Dammit!" he cried. "I don't understand why so much time passed here versus the Realm of Chaos!"
Seiji covered Ryo's fist with one of his hands and gazed across the estate. "Morhon explained this to me," he began. "She said it had to do with the energy involved. Chaos is a realm of mayhem and disorder, and so much of it happens. For all of that to happen, it stretches the limits of time until for every hour that passes there a day passes here just so everything takes place in an ordered timing, if there is such a thing."
"But I missed so much." Ryo buried his face in his hands. "In the six months that I have been in that hell, I starved to death, was self-poisoned-that happened after I starved, I had to find something to eat-was ripped apart, beaten by bandits, and torn asunder. And while that was taking place, I missed you guys. I missed the wonderful things that happened to you and missed being able to participate in the celebration and participating in the memories! Damn!"
Seiji was silent for a moment before he patted Ryo's back again. "It's okay," he said
"No it's not," Ryo whimpered.
"Yes it is. No, listen to me." Seiji drooped an arm across Ryo's shoulder and hugged him close. "My being married, my getting a degree in psychiatry, all that means nothing to me compared to finally seeing you alive and being at your side to speak with you. It hurt me to do the things I did because I knew you wouldn't be there to celebrate with me. On the other hand, I knew I had to go on with my life, because, quite frankly, what would you have done if I moped for twelve years, doing absolutely nothing, as I waited for you to come back?"
Ryo only needed a moment to think about that. "I'd have chewed your ears off."
Seiji nodded. "Exactly. You would have been mad at me for wasting my life. And even though it pained me to do those things without you taking part with me, I still continued on because I knew that was what you wanted me to do. And none of those made me any more happy than having Morhon-bless her heart-call me up on the phone and say, 'Ryo is back! Let's paaaaartyyyyyy!' "
Ryo choked back a laugh. "Did she really say it like that?"
Seiji nodded again. "I think living in the modern world brought out the animal side of her."
Ryo's frame shook with laughter as he imagined the diminutive Dragon Queen in her human form, cradling the phone to her ear with one hand while the other pumped in the air, dancing joyfully around as she had the moment he had come back and was pounced on by Byakuen.
Seiji laughed along with Ryo for a moment, and then grew silent. Ryo's laughs eventually stopped though a chuckle would ripple through his chest now and then. Seiji hugged Ryo suddenly. "You're back," he said, "and that is the important thing. All those things that I did in the past mean nothing now. And whether or not they were important doesn't matter, because you know what?"
"What?"
"We have the rest of our lives ahead of us and thousands of chances in which to share special moments with one another. So what if you never got be apart of our memories. You can help us make new ones even more special than what we had before."
Ryo smiled at Seiji. "You're right."
"I know I am," Seiji replied haughtily. He and Ryo shared another laugh and Seiji finally clapped Ryo on the back. "Come now. We best get to bed or Morhon will get after us for staying up late."


Deep within the darkness was a small child lashed to a spot by dark chains. The child sniffed and sulked. He froze as a flash of bright white appeared before him and the Lord of Chaos, swathed in his crimson robes with the dragon skull perched his head like a helmet, the jaw pulled up to reveal the boyish face, frowned.
"It has come to my notice," he began, "that you are responsible for a child of Order appearing in my realm." The eyes narrowed dangerously and the boyishness disappeared, leaving behind a merciless ferociousness. The chaotic energy swirled around him like wafts of steam. The sheer force of the Lord of Chaos was almost overwhelming even as his presence was masked by the darkness. This cold and cruel man was the beast of disorder that Rufus and Molly had warned Ryo against ever meeting.
The child cringed before him. The Lord of Chaos' hand shot out to wrap around the child's throat. "Were you not in the Lady Morhon's jurisdiction, I would destroy you," he snarled. "You trespassed in my region, used my realm for your own sake, and that is unforgivable. The scent of Chaos covers you like a heavy blanket and I know the reason why you are here is because the Lady Morhon is trying to purge you from that." The sound of steel rang clearly and a sword, its blade as black as the crystal at the Lord's forehead, appeared within his hand.
The grip tightened and the child whimpered. His eyes were wide with terror as he stared at the blade.
"Lady Morhon is the queen of the darkness, but I am the Lord of Chaos, and it is within my right to punish you for what you have done." The blood-red eyes narrowed. The sword flashed and the chaos became a whirlpool of agony, terror, and madness.
Screams, raw and filled with horror and pain, rocked through the dark as dreadful fantasies became realities and Chaos, in its form as the beast of disorder, howled with triumph.
The screams continued for a long time.


The next morning dawned bright and clear, fresh with chances and surprises.
Which was exactly what Ryo got when Morhon informed him of his living arrangements.
"Wait a minute . . ." He stared at Morhon who stared back and at Itsue, who refused to look him in the eye. "You two are my permanent live-in guests?"
Morhon pointed at Tadashi. "Him too."
Tadashi backed away from them. "Oh no you don't. You can leave me out of this mess." He flitted away to hide behind Byakuen.
"You see," Morhon began patiently, as if she had explained this a dozen times over to different people, "Itsue had no family-well, she had some distant cousins, but it was really not an option for her to appear suddenly at their doorstep and say, 'Remember me? I'm the side of the family that has been missing for over fifty years.' " She snorted. "Wouldn't work, I'm afraid. So I adopted her as my daughter seeing as how I had nothing better to do than to go back to sleep-and with you missing, I certainly had no such intention. So we stayed together in your cabin with Byakuen, waiting for you to come back. I figured that it would be one of the first places you would return and thought it best if someone you knew would be there."
Ryo scratched his head. "So now you guys are living with me?"
Morhon shrugged. "Why not? It's either your cabin or my cave, and frankly, your cabin is much less draftier and more cozier than my dreary cave."
Ryo looked from Morhon to Itsue. She nervously twisted a short strand of hair around her fingers. Ryo gestured to Morhon and walked over to stand beside Byakuen, which was just out of Itsue's hearing. Morhon, curious as to what Ryo was up to, trailed behind him. He nodded to Itsue and gathered words together to voice his concern. "She doesn't get out often, does she?" he asked finally.
Morhon shook her head. "She's frightened by the world and its technology," she replied simply. "She sometimes ventures beyond the village not far from the cabin, but she rarely speaks to anyone." She winked at Ryo. "She has grown into a cute young lady, hasn't she?" she asked slyly, nudging Ryo in the side.
Ryo felt a blush turn his face scarlet. "Er, yeah. But what I was trying to say is if my being around makes Itsue nervous, then maybe I should just stay with Seiji or something."
Byakuen growled as Morhon pursed her lips and fiercely shook her head. "I will allow none of that!" the Black Dragon Queen stated sternly. "Itsue is just afraid that you may hate her because she was involved with the mess where you winded up in the Realm of Chaos. She blames herself for your suffering and feels guilty. You of all people should know what that is like! Your leaving will only make her feel that her fears have been confirmed." She smacked his arm smartly with her hand. "Now you go over there and offer to carry her bag for her like a gentleman!"
Ryo looked at Byakuen for help, but the tiger glared at Ryo with the same look in his eyes as Morhon. Ryo sighed, resigned, and walked over to Itsue. They did not hear what he said to her, but she nervously shook her head at his words. The next thing he said made her blush, and after a few moments, he extended his arm out to her.
Blushing brightly, Itsue accepted his arm after only a short hesitation and Ryo plucked her small traveling bag up in his other hand. They walked off to the car Tadashi had driven (Morhon was too short to see over the steering wheel and the car was different from what Ryo was used to since it was built to run off of cold fusion; something most people of the world could not yet afford but was a gift from Nasutei and Touma) and Ryo helped Itsue inside.
Morhon sighed, a dreamy look crossing her face. Tadashi and Byakuen exchanged looks. They could practically hear the wedding bells that rang within her mind.
"Match maker," Byakuen growled.
"Ah shush." Morhon quieted him with a simple wave of her hand as she continued to gaze at the couple.


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