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.
Disclaimer: "Yoroiden Samurai Troopers" does not belong to me.
I am but a lowly slug.
Any comments or suggestions are welcome as long as they are constructive.
Heck, if you just want to chat samurai troopers, feel free to drop me a
line.
Comments can be made at: Li_bell_ule@yahoo.com
View my web page: http://thedragonflysleeps.tripod.com/
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.)
