Warning: This story contains shounen ai, which implies male/male love, graphic violence, and angst. Please do not read if such ideas upset you. Please use your good judgment. This fiction also contains character death.
Rated R for violence, strong language and sexual situations.

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A Stitch In Time

Chapter Four: Aria


Drawing in irregularly deep breaths, Seiji suddenly found the oxygen much too thin to breathe normally. A tingling in his limbs and a dizziness in his head caused by his rapidly falling blood pressure made the ground rush up to smite him.
          Face pressed against the earth, Seiji stifled the strong urge to be sick. Numb and trembling from the lack of strength, he couldn't bring himself to move.
        How had it happened? How in the hell had this happened?
         His mind was racing, rapidly sewing the sections of truth together to form a patchwork of what had befallen them.

        Arago must have gone after the Masho one by one, isolating one of them, overpowering him, stealing his body and his armor. When it was too late, the others must have realized what had happened, only to be taken in the assault. Anubis had stood no chance against three armors, just as he and Ryo had had no chance against four. Now he alone must face the power of five armors.
        I can't possibly defeat him, Seiji thought. Even if I were strong enough, that is still Ryo under there-- he's still alive.
        "God, it was Ryo..." Seiji whispered. "All those years ago... it was Ryo who killed..." He shook his head, forcing the thought away. "No, it was Arago."
        He couldn't let it happen-- not again.

        Seiji forced himself to stand, as the rived corpse of his polarity lay unmoving beside him. He wasn't sure what to call the emotion he was feeling. It was deeper than remorse, greater than sorrow, yet he felt no tears, no relief from the anguish burning in his chest.
        There was nothing he could do for Anubis now, and there was no way in hell he would let Ryo suffer the same fate.

        Looking ahead, Seiji noticed that the gateway between the past and the present had not closed yet.
        Arago must be planning to return after he's killed Nasuti. Seiji thought dourly, Yes, he's coming back to finish me off. How lovely.

        Knowing that he was running out of precious time, Seiji concentrated on a course of action. This combination of armors produced a power that Seiji was not familiar with-- if it possessed the capability to access the past, then it could conceivably to do anything.
        Seiji knew he couldn't win, but he had to stop Arago somehow without harming Ryo.
          Was that possible? Would he have to choose between Ryo's life and Nasuti's? If it came down to that, could he do it?
        No, he thought. I can't make that choice.
        What to do then? Seiji exhaled in frustration. He couldn't waste any more time thinking, something had to be--
        An idea struck him with such straightforward clarity that it halted his train of thought completely.
        Seiji didn't have to win.  He had to prevent. He had to prevent this horrible reality beyond any measure of a doubt. Suddenly, he knew what had to be done. It was so very simple that he nearly laughed.
        Breaking into a run, Seiji flung himself through the portal that led to the past.

*****

        The wet snow stung his face, bringing Seiji to awareness as he slowly raised himself from the frozen earth.
        In the open field voices could be heard echoing in the vast space.
        Nasuti. He thought. That is Nasuti's voice!
        Although he had not heard her speak in five years, he would never forget the sound of her voice.
        She had no idea what was about to happen to her.

        Looking out towards the clearing, he saw Nasuti shivering in the snow and Arago standing only a few feet in front of her. His younger self was far off in the distance-- he would never make it. Neither would young Ryo. They both had no hope of reaching Nasuti in time.

        Using Kourin to enhance his speed, Seiji advanced towards Arago, catching the ancient warrior's attention.
        "You said that this is where it all begins," Seiji screamed fiercely.
        "She will die!" Arago shrieked with rage.
        "This ends now, Arago!" He retorted, staring into Ryo's clouded, blue eyes. "With me."
        Swinging at him mightily with his large sword, Seiji did not afford Arago any headway as he came between Nasuti and her death. It took all his strength not to be thrown by the power in Arago's strikes. Blocking the brutal assault, his broken rib hindering his breath against each blow, Seiji realized that prevention was not enough-- something more significant had to been done to drive Arago from this world.
        If only Seiji could find a way to affect Ryo, to do something that would reach him-- pressure him into action against Arago...
        "Enough of this foolishness!" Arago snarled. Growing tired of Seiji's resistance, Arago powered up, striking out against him with the cruel combined attack of Yami and Rekka. The blow could not be avoided and hit Seiji hard, sending him hurtling backward. His arm went numb, his no-datchi flying from his fingers.
        The young Ryo and Seiji were held far at bay by Arago and his unparalleled might. He turned towards Nasuti, who crawled back in desperation.

         Deterring Nasuti's death was not enough. Victory against Arago is not an option. Seiji thought, pushing himself up despite the protest of his trembling muscles. So, sacrifice is the only way.
        Damned if he let the same thing happen twice-- there was only one way he could think of that would stop Arago without hurting Ryo and allow Nasuti to live.

         Nasuti cowered as Arago loomed over her. Raising his sword high, letting the fierce blade glisten, Arago brought it down in a violent, driving swing.
        Without hesitation, Seiji banished his armor and leapt between Nasuti and the blade.
        The sword impacted through his body, all the way to the hilt, the sharp blade protruding out of his back. He gasped tightly as the blade pierced his abdomen, then collapsed backward to the ground.

        Arago cried out in angered astonishment-- in one swift motion, Seiji had ruined the entire timeline. Nasuti was supposed to die at this precise moment in time. Her death was the cornerstone of all his control on Ryo, as it was her death that planted the darkness in Ryo's heart, enabling Arago to cause a rift between the warriors and possess Ryo's body.
        And Ryo, stricken by Seiji's impulsive action, found the capacity to rebel against Arago, forcing him out so that he could be at Seiji's side.
        Without Nasuti's death at that moment, Arago was not strong enough to exist here and did not exist in the future.
        One minute change in history-- such as an exchange of deaths-- and the prospective fabric of time unraveled and had to be rewoven to integrate the alteration.

        Howling as the wind picked up, Arago was forced out of Ryo's body and out of this reality. The world swayed in confusion, trembling as the order of the history was disrupted.
        Only the time travelers remained, Nasuti and the past world had vanished in the time distortion.
        Arago's shriek deviated into Ryo's as the combination of armors was stripped away, revealing Ryo's true armor, Rekka. At this point, Arago was gone, leaving Ryo completely in charge of himself.

        Ryo screamed, his pained cry resonating through the forest, over the sound of the rushing winds.
        "No! Oh God, Seiji, no!"
        He collapsed to his knees in the bloodstained snow.
        Getting a firm grip on his own sword, he wrenched the metal blade from Seiji's body. It made a sickening sputter as it exited, blood rushing out through the gaping wound, and Ryo desperately fought back a wave of nausea.
        The blood melted the snow around him to form red slush. He drew Seiji up into his lap and cradled his head, his blond hair stringy with blood.
         Cold wind whipped at Ryo's face while the world around him shattered. But Ryo did not care. That hardly mattered now. The only thing that he was concerned with was Seiji and the gruesome amount of blood seeping from his body.

        "Why did you do this?" He asked brokenly, frantically trying to breathe. "Why?"
        Seiji's violet eyes opened slowly and Ryo felt his heart leap in his chest. "Because..." He spoke in barely a whisper. "There is no other way. I have to die..."
        "Don't talk like that, Seiji," Ryo chided. "You're going to be just fine." Smothering fear formed a tightness in his throat, making it painful to swallow, to speak, to breathe--
         "You can't leave me..." Ryo gasped despondently, blinking back the hot tears pricking his eyes. Rocking slightly, crushing Seiji to him as if with his strength he could hold onto his life for him, Ryo knew that Seiji was slipping away.

         Lifting a trembling hand, Seiji swept his fingers across Ryo's cheek, wiping the flowing tears from his face.
        "Please, don't cry... listen to me, Ryo. Nasuti should not have died that day. Arago warped the time line, when he killed her. He disrupted history. The only way to stop him, was to correct it... My death will set everything right again..."
        "No, there has to be another way--."
        "Ryo, one of us has to die in her place. Nasuti is the key. Our entire future depends on this instant..."
        Seiji convulsed violently, expelling the red fluid collecting in his lungs, his blood sputtering up past his lips.
        "Oh, God..." Ryo cried out, smearing the blood from Seiji's mouth.

        He was holding on, straining to make Ryo understand. It was for Ryo that he lived, suffering through a slow death for just a few moments more with him.
        Swallowing back the bitter blood threatening to choke the words in his throat, he continued to speak.
        "H-he gained control... the day Nasuti died... He was the darkness... in your h-heart..." Seiji whispered, raising a bloody hand and pressing it gently against Ryo's chest. "...now he will control you... no longer..."

        His resolve crumbling, Ryo stooped forward, touching his forehead against Seiji's, tears of heartbreaking pain wending down his face, dropping from his cheeks onto Seiji's bloodstained face.
        Pressing his lips to his friend's forehead, kissing him tenderly, Ryo uttered softly, "Ai shiteiru, Seiji." I love you, Seiji.
        Seiji's lips formed words, but he did not have the strength to voice them.
        "Can you hear me? Seiji?" Ryo asked, his voice tight with emotion. "I love you."

        Shattering pain ruptured in a blinding outburst of whiteness from within himself, spreading from his heart to his limbs and Ryo knew with horrible truth that Seiji was dead.

        The world around them suddenly exploded, everything warped and distorted out of shape. The wind lamented, shrieking its doleful cry as history was rewritten.
        Our requiem. Ryo thought as he hugged Seiji to him.
        The ground shook violently and Ryo held onto Seiji dearly, but soon could not feel anything as the time continuum rushed over them. It was almost as if mind and body were severed.
        He began to panic until blessed unconsciousness claimed him.




Continued in Chapter Five: Reunion

*stepping out from hiding place* Don't hurt me! Quick-- go read chapter five before sending hate mail!!! Go, go, go!
(But please send me some mail-- I'd like to know what you all think.)