Heart of the Cards
******
Chapter Five: "You Don't HAVE a Name Anymore, Do You?"
(Ivy's P.O.V.)
I sighed, wrapping my arms further around my knees, and shivering against the not-quite cold. The air was stale and dry, with just a hint of the kind of cold you get at a high altitude. Other than that, the space around me had just one other distinct feature.
Shadows.
Shadows, everywhere.
Shadows that felt around your skin, pressed in against your mind, and filled your lungs with each breath.
Not for the first time, and definitely not for the last, I wondered where in the world I was. And also not for the first time, I reached back and pulled the large white wing attached to my back out in front of my face, to see if it was real.
Yup. Real, just like it was four minutes ago.
Of course I recognized those wings on my back, the same way I recognized them when I drew the famous card from my deck. The wings, the tail, the claws and although I had no mirror, I was willing to bet, the eyes.
All features of the unmistakable Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
I shivered again, whether from the cold or from the strange mutations to my body, I wasn't sure. So far, I'd seen neither hide nor hair of Will, Blaine or Kennie... although, I wasn't really sure if they would be here with me.
For all I knew, I could be insane.
"... Ugh..."
I froze. After my brain comprehended the noise from behind me, my body clicked in gear and I sprang awkwardly to my clawed feet, newly acquired wings fanning out in alarm and effectively tipping me off-balance.
"Oww... dammit..."
Hold on... that sounded a lot like...
"Ebon?!"
"Huh!" The now determined voice exclaimed. I tackled Ebon, knocking us both to the floor (which didn't really matter, since we were both on the floor anyway) with my irritating wings AGAIN.
"Oh, Ebon! Thank goodness someone's here! I was so worried about you!"
"Wha, whoa. Slow down Ivy, chill." Getting up gruffly, Ebon brushed off his arms, only to freeze in the process. "Ho-ly..."
I blinked, only now noticing the outfit he was clad down in. It looked quite uncomfortable, really, but I suppose I wasn't in any position to talk. Dark violet armor seemed unreasonably large and bulky, fitting wrong in some places as Ebon had been always been slightly lean. A swooping helmet connected down to what looked like football gear shoulder pads, and continued down after that.
Undeniably the Dark Magician.
"Why the..." Ebon turned around to face me, and exclaimed, "WHAT THE!!! Ivy! What in the world...?!"
"... I don't know, and I don't know." I blinked, and sighed, feeling like a second-hand smoker in all the shadows. For some reason, though, they didn't affect my vision too much, like mist or fog would.
"Okay. This started out funky, kind of freaky, and now it's just plain stupid." Ebon stated, retortedlly swishing his staff. "I'm a Dark Magician, you're a Blue-Eyes, we're lost in shadows, probably sent here by that weird freak girl, and we didn't even find Kennie."
Well, when he put it that way...
"Oh my god. No, no, no no NO! Blaine!"
"Huh?!" I exclaimed in unison with Ebon. I never really realized how well I could recognize voices until they were echoing at me from unknown directions.
"Will? Will, where are you?!" I called, cupping clawed hands around my mouth.
"Screw! Let's just follow his voice!" Ebon shouted, already 40 feet away, to my shock. I ran after him as best I could, trying not to trip and fall over my tail, feet or wingtips. Ebon was running surprisingly fast for someone carrying a least 50 extra pounds of armor.
"Will, w-what the hell?!" Ebon came to a halt abruptly, and I nearly crushed him with my momentum. I scrambled to the side, and gasped at the scene that held my eyes.
Will, a Red-Eyes Black Dragon, was crouching low, shaking an unmoving form on the ground, in Celtic Guardian armor.
Blaine!
"Oh my goodness, what happened?" I asked, kneeling and propping up Blaine's head. Will's darkened, anguished eyes bored holes in me, and I nearly cried. I'd never seen him so helplessly emotional in my life.
"Help him, Ivy, please! I don't know what happened, he just crumpled to the floor, I-"
"Shhh." Ebon said, kneeling down by us. "Calm down, Will. You'll just upset him."
I cringed, expecting Will to strike Ebon, but nothing came except for silence. I blinked, confused, but put it out of my mind. Checking Blaine's pulse, I was shocked to find that it was beating at a perfectlly normal pace; he appeared to be sleeping, but the strangled and worn in look to his features told me otherwise. He looked to have aged at least 10 years. He was breathing, but only scarcely.
Then, all at once, he went slack.
"Uhh!" I cried, shocked. "Blaine, can you hear me? Blaine!"
"Pathetic."
Ebon and Will were both on their feet in a matter of seconds, Ebon gripping his staff instinctually, and Will balling his clawed fists. Both seethed in dark, hellish anger.
"YOU!" Ebon shouted. "I thought I'd be seeing you! Who the hell are you? Where have you taken us? And WHAT is wrong with Blaine?!"
"If you've so much as TOUCHED my brother, I'll KILL YOU!" Will roared, his voice magnified in the echoey quality of our atmosphere, and perhaps Red- Eyes vocal chords.
"Tsk, tsk. Calm down, Red-Eyes Black Dragon. That's no way to behave, a strong card like you."
"I'm not a card, you bitch!" I winced at the foul language, but it was completely true. I scooped Blaine into my arms with care, and (miraculously for someone small-builded like me) stood up to glare at her as well.
"We want some answers! But first, you'd better undo whatever it is you've done to Blaine!"
"... So much yelling. I may just decide to leave you be, if you're not more polite." She said coldly, lavender eyes icing the air even more than the shadows. "Follow me, my pets."
"RRRRRRAGH! Shut up!"
Surprisingly, that wasn't Will. Ebon seethed, and swung his staff like a baseball bat, which was painfully pathetic. Especially when he missed (even with a point-blank shot) and performed a full spin and a half, crunching into Will, who seemed unfazed.
"And how are we supposed to trust you?! You dragged us all here one by one, turned us into mutant freaks, and expect us to just follow you at the drop of a hat?!"
"If you want to see your brother die the worst death of all, fine by me. Celtic Guardians aren't that strong."
Deadly silence emitted from Will. I didn't like that look, I didn't like it at all. His blacker-than-black eyes darkened even more, putting the shadows to shame. He lowered his horned head, hair falling into his eyes and casting more ebony on his face. His shoulders trembled, and I swore I felt the ground beneath my feel shudder. I hugged Blaine closer, hoping this wasn't aggravating his condition.
Ebon had recovered from the embarrassment, and now grabbed the girl's arm in a metal vice grip. I often pitied his cards, although he was gentler with them.
"Tell. Me. What's. Wrong. NOW."
Will shuddered, his face going red, drawing in long, ragged breaths. He'd either blow a vein and die of a stroke, or explode and kill someone at any second.
I hoped the latter, for once.
"You are hopeless. Follow me or not." The girl flicked Ebon's hand off with two fingers, as if it were a piece of filth, dirty and simple to dispose of. Ebon's hand flew backward, causing him to jerk slightly. This girl didn't look it, but she was strong. Incredibly strong.
I stepped forward reluctantly.
"Come on, Will, Ebon. We... have no choice but to follow her."
"Ivy! She'll--"
"I know, Ebon, I know. But Blaine needs help. Bad."
"... Ugh." Ebon paused for what seemed like too long, and finally said "I hate it, but you're right. Will... let's go."
He was quiet, but stepped forward stiffly, as if relearning how to walk.
I kept my eyes focused on Blaine's face as we walked, although I doubted that there would be any changes in his condition. This girl seemed to have made us an unspoken promise; if we followed her like good Duel Monsters, no harm would befall Blaine.
Still. I didn't trust her as far as I could throw a truck.
Surprisingly, even as lost in thought as I was, I began to notice a distinct change in the atmosphere. The "sky" gradually went from dark shifting masses of gray to an almost normal green-blue color. Frigid air warmed ever so slightly, and I could tell that the shadows were dissipating. A little.
And then, all at once, we were at her front door.
And what a front door it was! Her "house" was nothing short of a palace, but not one I'd ever seen before. I vaguely recalled white pearly castles from storybooks my mother had read me, and the "Castle of Dark Illusions" card that Kennie owned, but this place fit neither description. It was made up of what appeared to be stone, if stone could move. The entire castle seemed to seethe, the rocks that made it up ever constantly shifting and re- arranging, as if they couldn't make up their minds. I suppose you could call it medieval, to a degree.
The girl led us in through a drawbridge that simply shifted to the ground, without aid of rope and lever. Once inside, Will began to snap out of his zombie-like revere.
"...You, we're here now. So spill the beans, what do you want?"
The girl ignored him entirely, and yanked on a stone dragon's head that was artfully sculpted on one of the walls.
To be honest, I wasn't all that shocked when the entire wall moved to grant us entrance to a hidden passage. This type of thing was seen all the time on television, but it was none-the-less odd that it was happening to us.
The four of us (not including Blaine, who was still unconscious in my arms) made our way further down a finding stairwell. Though it was dark and only lit by a few burning red orbs here and there, I was relieved that at least the stone walls were calmer down here, and didn't move around like anxious school children.
"Ivy." Ebon hissed by my ear.
"Hmm?" I answered as quietly as possible.
"..." he paused, as if unsure of what to say. "I have an idea."
I waited for him to continue, but he never got the chance.
With a resounding SMACK, something crashed into Ebon's head.
"Aaagh!" He shouted, crashing back into the wall.
"Stop that." retorted the girl who was leading us, shooting a death glare to what looked like a furry... cat?
"Sorry ma'am, couldn't help it." The lithe figure flipped downward, and landed gracefully on one knee, before standing up casually. Now, in the light of the glowing orb, I realized that this person was indeed a furry cat... but not quite. He had blackish skin, and odd, cartoonish ears and gloves, but the rest of him looked relatively humanoid.
I understood with a start; he was like us, a person trapped as a card.
How many "cards" did she HAVE?!
"I'm sure." The girl sniffed, glancing unamused at the boy. "But it's a good thing you decided to show up on TIME for once, although your method of entrance needs improving. Show these four to their rooms."
"Yes'm!" He beamed mischievously. His head snapped in my direction suddenly, and I jerked with a start. "Ahhh, you're a pretty little thing."
I stepped backwards, very uncomfortable under his youthfully shrewd stare. A smirk quirked foreverlly at one corner of his mouth, and his magenta eyes gleamed like he knew some kind of joke or secret that no one ever had a chance of getting out of him. The way he spoke was odd too, like a stereotypical oily car salesman, who could persuade anyone to buy the "old- woman-who-went-grocery-shopping-once-a-week" car. He strung his words together like liquid metal, fluent and flawless.
He made me extremely nervous.
"And what's your name? Ahhh, yes. I forgot, you don't have a name anymore, do you? Tut tut, nope... you are now; the mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Great, hmm?" He paused, and I looked away, hoping he'd leave.
Instead, he trailed a gloved finger across my cheek, and pushed my chin so I was facing him again. "Not too friendly, huh? Well, get used to me; you'll be seeing me around a lot."
"Get AWAY from her." Ebon's hand fell on the boy's shoulder, and he shoved him forcefully into a wall. He bounced off and came face to face with him again.
"Oh, powerful cards we got today. DM, I presume? Kind of wimpy, aren't you?"
"Shut the hell up! How'd you feel about having this rammed down your throat?!" He said, gripping his staff and jabbing the newcomer's chest with it.
The boy laughed, and nuckle punched Ebon's temple, the way a pal would. "Aw, how cute. What weak threats, Mr. Magician!"
"Back off." Snapped Will. "If we have to obey Duel Monster rules, I could easily kick your sorry ass."
"Hmmm, can't argue there. Well! Let's be off then, shall we?"
I scowled, something I rarely do. I highly detested this person, and this place. I'd be happy to just have him take us to our "rooms" so that we could have some peace.
Maybe.
***
Ebon closed the door hard behind us, no doubt grateful to have our annoying guide gone. I lay Blaine down on one of the surprisingly nice beds, and sat down at the foot of it.
NOW Will threw his fit.
"I can't BELIEVE it here!" He ranted, pacing. "Why the HELL did we agree to follow her?! I hate this, if expects to have a room full of happy, obedient slaves, she's SADLY MISTAKEN!"
"I'm with you on this one." Ebon said, leaning up against the closed door. "We can't just sit here like good little boys and girls. There's something seriously wrong here. I mean, you usually don't go through all the trouble trapping people in cards, just to give them hotel rooms and residence in the Land of the Freaks. She's up to something."
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "He's waking up!"
We all rushed over to Blaine's bedside, where he was stirring.
"Unnn..." he murmured, clenching his eyes before he sleepily opened them. "Where...?"
"Blaine!" Will exclaimed, falling to one knee and crushing his brother in a Red-Eyes hug. It took every amount of strength I had not to cup my hands over my heart and go "aaaaaaaw!"
Ebon was not so carried away. "Blaine, are you feeling better?" he inquired, laying a hand on his forehead. "Are you in pain?"
"N-No, I'm fine. Will? Is everything all right?" Blaine said, sitting up and putting a hand to his brother's shoulder.
"God, Blaine, nothing's alright, everything's screwed, but I'm just damned glad you're alive." He stood up, and looked his brother over one last time, checking for scratches or splinters, no doubt.
"Will. Why are you a Red-Eyes?"
Will smiled a bit, and looked lost. "Sorry, Blaine. I have no idea whatsoever."
Blaine stood up, looking melancholy and confused, but then again, that was his default expression. He looked over at me, and Ebon, and said "Oh, I see," as he looked down at his own armor.
Ebon filled him in on what happened, and in the meantime, Will turned to me.
"Ivy... Thank you. I-- shouldn't have gotten so carried away earlier, I'm.... sorry." He looked uncomfortable, and a bit bruised of pride.
I smiled. "It's not a problem, Will. I understand, this has been a very stressful day. And, if my body clock is right, it should be around 2:00 a.m. our time. Try to get some sleep, okay? We'll think of something tomorrow morning."
He nodded gratefully, and moved off to lie on a bed next to Blaine's. I crawled under the covers of my own bed, and Ebon took a place in the one next to me. I glanced over at Will, who was shifting and rustling his covers. Although he was physically tired, and sedated at the contact with blankets and pillows, a never-ending turbulence obviously still hovered around him.
Poor thing; I hoped he could find some rest and peace after we got out of this crazy place.
I closed my eyes and sighed softly.
If we ever got out of this place.
******
{A/N: Yup, it's the boy Ebon version. ^_-}
******
Chapter Five: "You Don't HAVE a Name Anymore, Do You?"
(Ivy's P.O.V.)
I sighed, wrapping my arms further around my knees, and shivering against the not-quite cold. The air was stale and dry, with just a hint of the kind of cold you get at a high altitude. Other than that, the space around me had just one other distinct feature.
Shadows.
Shadows, everywhere.
Shadows that felt around your skin, pressed in against your mind, and filled your lungs with each breath.
Not for the first time, and definitely not for the last, I wondered where in the world I was. And also not for the first time, I reached back and pulled the large white wing attached to my back out in front of my face, to see if it was real.
Yup. Real, just like it was four minutes ago.
Of course I recognized those wings on my back, the same way I recognized them when I drew the famous card from my deck. The wings, the tail, the claws and although I had no mirror, I was willing to bet, the eyes.
All features of the unmistakable Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
I shivered again, whether from the cold or from the strange mutations to my body, I wasn't sure. So far, I'd seen neither hide nor hair of Will, Blaine or Kennie... although, I wasn't really sure if they would be here with me.
For all I knew, I could be insane.
"... Ugh..."
I froze. After my brain comprehended the noise from behind me, my body clicked in gear and I sprang awkwardly to my clawed feet, newly acquired wings fanning out in alarm and effectively tipping me off-balance.
"Oww... dammit..."
Hold on... that sounded a lot like...
"Ebon?!"
"Huh!" The now determined voice exclaimed. I tackled Ebon, knocking us both to the floor (which didn't really matter, since we were both on the floor anyway) with my irritating wings AGAIN.
"Oh, Ebon! Thank goodness someone's here! I was so worried about you!"
"Wha, whoa. Slow down Ivy, chill." Getting up gruffly, Ebon brushed off his arms, only to freeze in the process. "Ho-ly..."
I blinked, only now noticing the outfit he was clad down in. It looked quite uncomfortable, really, but I suppose I wasn't in any position to talk. Dark violet armor seemed unreasonably large and bulky, fitting wrong in some places as Ebon had been always been slightly lean. A swooping helmet connected down to what looked like football gear shoulder pads, and continued down after that.
Undeniably the Dark Magician.
"Why the..." Ebon turned around to face me, and exclaimed, "WHAT THE!!! Ivy! What in the world...?!"
"... I don't know, and I don't know." I blinked, and sighed, feeling like a second-hand smoker in all the shadows. For some reason, though, they didn't affect my vision too much, like mist or fog would.
"Okay. This started out funky, kind of freaky, and now it's just plain stupid." Ebon stated, retortedlly swishing his staff. "I'm a Dark Magician, you're a Blue-Eyes, we're lost in shadows, probably sent here by that weird freak girl, and we didn't even find Kennie."
Well, when he put it that way...
"Oh my god. No, no, no no NO! Blaine!"
"Huh?!" I exclaimed in unison with Ebon. I never really realized how well I could recognize voices until they were echoing at me from unknown directions.
"Will? Will, where are you?!" I called, cupping clawed hands around my mouth.
"Screw! Let's just follow his voice!" Ebon shouted, already 40 feet away, to my shock. I ran after him as best I could, trying not to trip and fall over my tail, feet or wingtips. Ebon was running surprisingly fast for someone carrying a least 50 extra pounds of armor.
"Will, w-what the hell?!" Ebon came to a halt abruptly, and I nearly crushed him with my momentum. I scrambled to the side, and gasped at the scene that held my eyes.
Will, a Red-Eyes Black Dragon, was crouching low, shaking an unmoving form on the ground, in Celtic Guardian armor.
Blaine!
"Oh my goodness, what happened?" I asked, kneeling and propping up Blaine's head. Will's darkened, anguished eyes bored holes in me, and I nearly cried. I'd never seen him so helplessly emotional in my life.
"Help him, Ivy, please! I don't know what happened, he just crumpled to the floor, I-"
"Shhh." Ebon said, kneeling down by us. "Calm down, Will. You'll just upset him."
I cringed, expecting Will to strike Ebon, but nothing came except for silence. I blinked, confused, but put it out of my mind. Checking Blaine's pulse, I was shocked to find that it was beating at a perfectlly normal pace; he appeared to be sleeping, but the strangled and worn in look to his features told me otherwise. He looked to have aged at least 10 years. He was breathing, but only scarcely.
Then, all at once, he went slack.
"Uhh!" I cried, shocked. "Blaine, can you hear me? Blaine!"
"Pathetic."
Ebon and Will were both on their feet in a matter of seconds, Ebon gripping his staff instinctually, and Will balling his clawed fists. Both seethed in dark, hellish anger.
"YOU!" Ebon shouted. "I thought I'd be seeing you! Who the hell are you? Where have you taken us? And WHAT is wrong with Blaine?!"
"If you've so much as TOUCHED my brother, I'll KILL YOU!" Will roared, his voice magnified in the echoey quality of our atmosphere, and perhaps Red- Eyes vocal chords.
"Tsk, tsk. Calm down, Red-Eyes Black Dragon. That's no way to behave, a strong card like you."
"I'm not a card, you bitch!" I winced at the foul language, but it was completely true. I scooped Blaine into my arms with care, and (miraculously for someone small-builded like me) stood up to glare at her as well.
"We want some answers! But first, you'd better undo whatever it is you've done to Blaine!"
"... So much yelling. I may just decide to leave you be, if you're not more polite." She said coldly, lavender eyes icing the air even more than the shadows. "Follow me, my pets."
"RRRRRRAGH! Shut up!"
Surprisingly, that wasn't Will. Ebon seethed, and swung his staff like a baseball bat, which was painfully pathetic. Especially when he missed (even with a point-blank shot) and performed a full spin and a half, crunching into Will, who seemed unfazed.
"And how are we supposed to trust you?! You dragged us all here one by one, turned us into mutant freaks, and expect us to just follow you at the drop of a hat?!"
"If you want to see your brother die the worst death of all, fine by me. Celtic Guardians aren't that strong."
Deadly silence emitted from Will. I didn't like that look, I didn't like it at all. His blacker-than-black eyes darkened even more, putting the shadows to shame. He lowered his horned head, hair falling into his eyes and casting more ebony on his face. His shoulders trembled, and I swore I felt the ground beneath my feel shudder. I hugged Blaine closer, hoping this wasn't aggravating his condition.
Ebon had recovered from the embarrassment, and now grabbed the girl's arm in a metal vice grip. I often pitied his cards, although he was gentler with them.
"Tell. Me. What's. Wrong. NOW."
Will shuddered, his face going red, drawing in long, ragged breaths. He'd either blow a vein and die of a stroke, or explode and kill someone at any second.
I hoped the latter, for once.
"You are hopeless. Follow me or not." The girl flicked Ebon's hand off with two fingers, as if it were a piece of filth, dirty and simple to dispose of. Ebon's hand flew backward, causing him to jerk slightly. This girl didn't look it, but she was strong. Incredibly strong.
I stepped forward reluctantly.
"Come on, Will, Ebon. We... have no choice but to follow her."
"Ivy! She'll--"
"I know, Ebon, I know. But Blaine needs help. Bad."
"... Ugh." Ebon paused for what seemed like too long, and finally said "I hate it, but you're right. Will... let's go."
He was quiet, but stepped forward stiffly, as if relearning how to walk.
I kept my eyes focused on Blaine's face as we walked, although I doubted that there would be any changes in his condition. This girl seemed to have made us an unspoken promise; if we followed her like good Duel Monsters, no harm would befall Blaine.
Still. I didn't trust her as far as I could throw a truck.
Surprisingly, even as lost in thought as I was, I began to notice a distinct change in the atmosphere. The "sky" gradually went from dark shifting masses of gray to an almost normal green-blue color. Frigid air warmed ever so slightly, and I could tell that the shadows were dissipating. A little.
And then, all at once, we were at her front door.
And what a front door it was! Her "house" was nothing short of a palace, but not one I'd ever seen before. I vaguely recalled white pearly castles from storybooks my mother had read me, and the "Castle of Dark Illusions" card that Kennie owned, but this place fit neither description. It was made up of what appeared to be stone, if stone could move. The entire castle seemed to seethe, the rocks that made it up ever constantly shifting and re- arranging, as if they couldn't make up their minds. I suppose you could call it medieval, to a degree.
The girl led us in through a drawbridge that simply shifted to the ground, without aid of rope and lever. Once inside, Will began to snap out of his zombie-like revere.
"...You, we're here now. So spill the beans, what do you want?"
The girl ignored him entirely, and yanked on a stone dragon's head that was artfully sculpted on one of the walls.
To be honest, I wasn't all that shocked when the entire wall moved to grant us entrance to a hidden passage. This type of thing was seen all the time on television, but it was none-the-less odd that it was happening to us.
The four of us (not including Blaine, who was still unconscious in my arms) made our way further down a finding stairwell. Though it was dark and only lit by a few burning red orbs here and there, I was relieved that at least the stone walls were calmer down here, and didn't move around like anxious school children.
"Ivy." Ebon hissed by my ear.
"Hmm?" I answered as quietly as possible.
"..." he paused, as if unsure of what to say. "I have an idea."
I waited for him to continue, but he never got the chance.
With a resounding SMACK, something crashed into Ebon's head.
"Aaagh!" He shouted, crashing back into the wall.
"Stop that." retorted the girl who was leading us, shooting a death glare to what looked like a furry... cat?
"Sorry ma'am, couldn't help it." The lithe figure flipped downward, and landed gracefully on one knee, before standing up casually. Now, in the light of the glowing orb, I realized that this person was indeed a furry cat... but not quite. He had blackish skin, and odd, cartoonish ears and gloves, but the rest of him looked relatively humanoid.
I understood with a start; he was like us, a person trapped as a card.
How many "cards" did she HAVE?!
"I'm sure." The girl sniffed, glancing unamused at the boy. "But it's a good thing you decided to show up on TIME for once, although your method of entrance needs improving. Show these four to their rooms."
"Yes'm!" He beamed mischievously. His head snapped in my direction suddenly, and I jerked with a start. "Ahhh, you're a pretty little thing."
I stepped backwards, very uncomfortable under his youthfully shrewd stare. A smirk quirked foreverlly at one corner of his mouth, and his magenta eyes gleamed like he knew some kind of joke or secret that no one ever had a chance of getting out of him. The way he spoke was odd too, like a stereotypical oily car salesman, who could persuade anyone to buy the "old- woman-who-went-grocery-shopping-once-a-week" car. He strung his words together like liquid metal, fluent and flawless.
He made me extremely nervous.
"And what's your name? Ahhh, yes. I forgot, you don't have a name anymore, do you? Tut tut, nope... you are now; the mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Great, hmm?" He paused, and I looked away, hoping he'd leave.
Instead, he trailed a gloved finger across my cheek, and pushed my chin so I was facing him again. "Not too friendly, huh? Well, get used to me; you'll be seeing me around a lot."
"Get AWAY from her." Ebon's hand fell on the boy's shoulder, and he shoved him forcefully into a wall. He bounced off and came face to face with him again.
"Oh, powerful cards we got today. DM, I presume? Kind of wimpy, aren't you?"
"Shut the hell up! How'd you feel about having this rammed down your throat?!" He said, gripping his staff and jabbing the newcomer's chest with it.
The boy laughed, and nuckle punched Ebon's temple, the way a pal would. "Aw, how cute. What weak threats, Mr. Magician!"
"Back off." Snapped Will. "If we have to obey Duel Monster rules, I could easily kick your sorry ass."
"Hmmm, can't argue there. Well! Let's be off then, shall we?"
I scowled, something I rarely do. I highly detested this person, and this place. I'd be happy to just have him take us to our "rooms" so that we could have some peace.
Maybe.
***
Ebon closed the door hard behind us, no doubt grateful to have our annoying guide gone. I lay Blaine down on one of the surprisingly nice beds, and sat down at the foot of it.
NOW Will threw his fit.
"I can't BELIEVE it here!" He ranted, pacing. "Why the HELL did we agree to follow her?! I hate this, if expects to have a room full of happy, obedient slaves, she's SADLY MISTAKEN!"
"I'm with you on this one." Ebon said, leaning up against the closed door. "We can't just sit here like good little boys and girls. There's something seriously wrong here. I mean, you usually don't go through all the trouble trapping people in cards, just to give them hotel rooms and residence in the Land of the Freaks. She's up to something."
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "He's waking up!"
We all rushed over to Blaine's bedside, where he was stirring.
"Unnn..." he murmured, clenching his eyes before he sleepily opened them. "Where...?"
"Blaine!" Will exclaimed, falling to one knee and crushing his brother in a Red-Eyes hug. It took every amount of strength I had not to cup my hands over my heart and go "aaaaaaaw!"
Ebon was not so carried away. "Blaine, are you feeling better?" he inquired, laying a hand on his forehead. "Are you in pain?"
"N-No, I'm fine. Will? Is everything all right?" Blaine said, sitting up and putting a hand to his brother's shoulder.
"God, Blaine, nothing's alright, everything's screwed, but I'm just damned glad you're alive." He stood up, and looked his brother over one last time, checking for scratches or splinters, no doubt.
"Will. Why are you a Red-Eyes?"
Will smiled a bit, and looked lost. "Sorry, Blaine. I have no idea whatsoever."
Blaine stood up, looking melancholy and confused, but then again, that was his default expression. He looked over at me, and Ebon, and said "Oh, I see," as he looked down at his own armor.
Ebon filled him in on what happened, and in the meantime, Will turned to me.
"Ivy... Thank you. I-- shouldn't have gotten so carried away earlier, I'm.... sorry." He looked uncomfortable, and a bit bruised of pride.
I smiled. "It's not a problem, Will. I understand, this has been a very stressful day. And, if my body clock is right, it should be around 2:00 a.m. our time. Try to get some sleep, okay? We'll think of something tomorrow morning."
He nodded gratefully, and moved off to lie on a bed next to Blaine's. I crawled under the covers of my own bed, and Ebon took a place in the one next to me. I glanced over at Will, who was shifting and rustling his covers. Although he was physically tired, and sedated at the contact with blankets and pillows, a never-ending turbulence obviously still hovered around him.
Poor thing; I hoped he could find some rest and peace after we got out of this crazy place.
I closed my eyes and sighed softly.
If we ever got out of this place.
******
{A/N: Yup, it's the boy Ebon version. ^_-}