"C-Casey?!" I all but shouted, tripping over my... well, feet, and falling
on my butt.
"Eby! I knew I'd find you here! I followed your musk." She joked, striding across the room to wrap me in a ferocious hug. The breath was crushed out of me, as she nearly pulled my head off standing upright, seeing as I was still on the ground and she had a death grip on me. But it was Casey! Here she was, in the flesh and blood, of all the strange places to be.
I pulled away and scrambled to my feet. "What the hell...?!"
"I know, weird huh? My lil' cous, I missed you! Why didn't you ever write?!" She questioned, slapping me (hard) on the back, and almost sending me to the floor again. Then again, you could have knocked me over with a feather at that point.
"What are you-"
"Same thing you're doing here! Cussing and fighting and plotting murder and all that other funstuff!"
I shook my head out in utter confusion. This didn't make sense at all, and yet I somehow sensed that this OUGHT to come as no surprise to me.
Ok, Ebon: brainstorm time.
Fact: The girl who obviously runs this place is in search of only elite or very talented Duel Monster players to bring here.
Conclusion Fact: My cousin Casey was the regional champ where she comes from, and can even kick MY ass sometimes.
Fact: Laws of the human nature say that it would be easier to take people who are related to one another for many reasons. A) It causes the theory that maybe said family members ran off together, B) It keeps the disappearances at minimum spread, and C) Talent in this game MAY be arguably genetic.
Final Conclusion? I should NOT be surprised.
"Yo? Ebbbyyy?" A hand in front of my face. I snapped out of it.
"Heh? Oh, sorry, Case. Zoned out..." I shook my head, and got down to the nitty-gritty. "How long have you BEEN here, anyway?" I asked in incredulism.
"Ahh, about three weeks or summat." This shocked me. If my cousin had been missing for nearly a month, why hadn't her mother told mine?
She took one look at my no doubt baffled expression and retorted smugly, "I know what you're gonna say, so don't say it. Mama's not expecting me home for 'least another week. I'm supposed to be at a camp, ya know."
"Oh..." That still didn't explain everything, but I dropped it. "I can't believe it's really you. I mean, I can't believe you're HERE- ."
"Yeah! Go figure, eh? And we make quite the pair, huh?"
I only then realized that while I was burdened as a Dark Magician, she was inexplicably dressed as none other than the Dark Magician Girl. She had her headdress tucked lazily under one arm and was fanning herself with the other, sweating from the heat I knew that kind of armor generated, but looking like she had grown slightly used to it. Which was more than I could say for myself. Her staff was hooked at her left hip, tied with some kind of cloth that I recognized as part of a bed sheet. Good idea, actually.
Suddenly, I was being mercilessly noogied. In under two seconds, she'd pounced me, shoved my head down so I lost my balance, hooked one of her unreasonably muscular arms around my neck and attacked my less-than-clean hair with her fist.
"Ack! Aggh, stop it, Casey, I mean it, I- OW! HEY!!" I sputtered uselessly, struggling and pushing against her arm with the best of my efforts. It could be likened to a mouse swatting at an anaconda with it's little furry paws.
"Heh heh heh! Didn't get much EXERCISE while I was gone, I see! Little one, have I taught you NOTHING?!" She laughed evilly again, and shoved me across the room. I lost my balance (for the umpteenth time that night) and fell straight backward onto a bed, which, unfortunately, Will was inhabiting.
"Oof!" came the muffled protest from under the mountain or blankets, (which he'd decided to accept after all).
"Agh, sorry Will!" I said hastily, rolling off. I'd forgotten how far it was to the ground, though, and fell with a resounding thud.
"Unnnn..."
"Did anyone get the license number of that truck...?" Will groaned, cracking open an eye with a whole lot of effort. I sat up, with bruised backside and dignity, sending a venomous glares at the trouble-making imp that was my cousin. She was, of course, doubled over in laughter.
"... Who are you?" Will asked, turning his head to one side to look at Casey with his classic "I-am-Will-hear-me-roar,-suspicious-of-you" look.
"Casey, man! Sorry 'bout that; I shouldn't have unleashed the horrors of Eby upon thee!" She said, wiping the tears of mirth from her eyes.
Will didn't snort or mention it, but I saw his eyebrow cock upward at the mention of my nickname. I closed my eyes in utter, complete humiliation. Ooh... when I'd get my hands on her...
Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Will grunted something that sounded vaguely like, "H'llo," and rolled over.
Casey smirked a little, looking at the already-asleep bundle. "Heeey, score Eby! He's cyuuute." She grinned, winking at me. I'm pretty sure my face turned twelve shades of beet red.
"Wh-Wha?" I sputtered, then I hiss-shouted under my breath, "What the HELL does THAT imply?!" Well, now Will had BETTER be asleep...
Casey grinned mischievously and began prancing around, black hair bouncing in a rather comical way. "Eby has a boyfriend, Eby has a BOYFRIEND,"
"Shuddup!" I growled, leaping at her back and smacking her head.
"Aiiii! AIIII!" she shouted, mock-girl fighting me. After about forty pawing slaps, she stopped. Now, I was red for an entirely different reason. For a supposedly wimpy imitation of a fight, Casey still smacked pretty damned hard. I sighed testily.
"Aww, Eby... you're all grimy and stuff! Do you guys know where the showers are?" she asked me, grinning.
That got my attention. "Showers? They have frickin' SHOWERS here?!"
"Of COURSE!" She exclaimed, running a hand through her hair, which was slightly damp. I hadn't realized that before. "I don't stink, do I? And I've been here for longer than you."
I groaned. "Okay; What do I have to do to get you to tell me where they are?"
Casey looked appalled. "What ever do you mean by that?" she said, resting a hand to her heart, giving me an exaggerated hurt look, which morphed into a (in my opinion) INCREDIBLY sadistic smile. "All you have to do is confess to Will your undying love."
I rolled my eyes. I sort of had a feeling it would be along the lines of that. "Noooo, thank you," I drawled. "I think I'd rather rot in disease and famine."
Casey laughed heartily (Will must have been REALLY tired, she was making a TON of noise...) and slapped me on the back, where I was already sore. "Just kidding, cous. Down the hall and to the right." She paused then, frowning. I had no idea why until I saw that her eyes had drifted over to the door, which I had my back to.
I spun around on reflex, only to be greeted with the sight of "That Girl" standing in the doorway, leaning up against the frame and observing us.
"I see you've located your cousin," she stated. "It's really about time."
Casey frowned even more, the expression looking out-of-place on her tanned and easy-going features. "Stuff it. You planned this, didn't you?" she asked, not amused.
"Maybe, maybe not. But there's no need to get defensive; I merely came here to check on the RESIDENTS of this room."
She way she said "residents" clearly meant that Casey, not rooming here, was excused.
Casey snorted and with an all-mightily eye roll and a wink in my direction, strolled out the door, leaving me and the other alone in the room.
The girl regarded me with an odd expression, like she was looking at me through mirrored glass, and I couldn't see her in return. Now it was m turn to frown; I hated people staring at me. "What?" I asked curtly.
"How are your injuries?" she asked with a small measure of interest, finally seeming to realize that she was having a conversation, not a scientific observation.
"I'M just FINE," I spat. "... It's WILL who got it worse."
Her eyes half-lidded. "... And that is my fault how? I don't think I was the one holding the staff..."
I snapped. "You may as WELL have been! How can you actually believe that?! YOU were controlling me!" Where this sudden spurt of anger came from, I had no idea. Usually, I was so level-headed... I rarely ever lost it like this.
She seemed to see this as well, and voiced it. "Now, now; calm down. Wouldn't want to end up like your friend, would you?"
I closed my eyes in hatred, shaking. Now would not be a good time to get injured. Someone had to take care of Will while Ivy and Blaine were gone; I couldn't be lying in a pool of blood when they came back. "Just shut up. We'll be just FINE, no thanks to you."
"Very well." She said, turning to leave. However, she paused, and turned her head back to face her profile to me. "Oh, and by the way... you have practice again tomorrow. Best get some sleep, it's quite late."
"PRACTICE?" I half-shouted, half simply emphasized. Damn it, just when I was calming down, too... "Not ALL of us...?"
"Yes, all of you. Why would you think otherwise? I mean, you DID just say that you would be fine, right....?" She cocked an eyebrow to me, skeptical.
"Wh-What, no, no I meant that..." I stammered uselessly.
"Very well then. I'll see you all there, at five o' clock sharp." She took a few steps out the door and down the hall. I heard her voice ring out, "And don't be late."
I waited until she was a good distance away and out of earshot before I flung myself down full force onto my bed and shouted into the mattress, so as not to wake up Will.
How the HELL was I supposed to know that her obviously "desinged-for- provokation" question was a possible outlet to get out of "practice?" Groaning loudly and returning to my old pastime of punching the pillows in, I released every murderous tendency I had in a matter of three minutes.
Done and exhausted, I collapsed back onto my bed, panting hard, hair disheveled. I found myself fighting back the inexplicable urge to cry, probably out of frustration. It wouldn't do any good to sob and moan about how life wasn't fair, especially not here. I knew this, and yet it was so hard to believe. I honestly just wanted to curl up and wallow in self-pity and pity for my friends forever.
But then I remembered what Dad had told me once...
"Ebon, you will make mistakes. I can't stop you there," he'd said, reaching over to ruffle my hair. "And after that, you might want to spend your whole life obsessing over what you could have, or should have done. What you didn't know. But all that really matters in the end is what you can, and will do about it. And of course, what you've learned from it."
Letting out the last of my tensions in a long sigh, and reflecting on my father's words, I let my tired mind sleep.
******
{A/N: Here it is! I'm not dead!!! XD Well, HoTC is taking FOREVER AND A DAY to develop now. My inspiration is kaput, but I am far too stubborn to drop this project NOW! Eleven frickin chapters! GRRR!
Sigh I'm trying to keep the rating down. Really. But since Ebon and Will are just SO tempted to go swearing and such, I have to be careful...!
Oo ... oO Random paranoia! I have a fever... )
Ahh, yes, and if Kanashimi is reading this: I WROTE THIS CHAPTER FOR YOUUU!!! (DIES PROMPTLY) X) Someone likes my stooorieee...!!!
.......
OH GOD! XO
Uhhh, wh-what I meant in my "Notes for Chapters etc, etc" was that I could... maybe write SHOUNEN AI or SHOUJO AI. N-Not Yaoi or Yuri... O.o Oh, the hentai perviness... I can't write that...! O_O So, there will be NO HENTAINESS IN THIS STORY! I can't BELIEVE I forgot the definitions of those words!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!!!
I AM A FOOL! (runs away out of sheer humiliation and hides) @_@
~Demon~}
"Eby! I knew I'd find you here! I followed your musk." She joked, striding across the room to wrap me in a ferocious hug. The breath was crushed out of me, as she nearly pulled my head off standing upright, seeing as I was still on the ground and she had a death grip on me. But it was Casey! Here she was, in the flesh and blood, of all the strange places to be.
I pulled away and scrambled to my feet. "What the hell...?!"
"I know, weird huh? My lil' cous, I missed you! Why didn't you ever write?!" She questioned, slapping me (hard) on the back, and almost sending me to the floor again. Then again, you could have knocked me over with a feather at that point.
"What are you-"
"Same thing you're doing here! Cussing and fighting and plotting murder and all that other funstuff!"
I shook my head out in utter confusion. This didn't make sense at all, and yet I somehow sensed that this OUGHT to come as no surprise to me.
Ok, Ebon: brainstorm time.
Fact: The girl who obviously runs this place is in search of only elite or very talented Duel Monster players to bring here.
Conclusion Fact: My cousin Casey was the regional champ where she comes from, and can even kick MY ass sometimes.
Fact: Laws of the human nature say that it would be easier to take people who are related to one another for many reasons. A) It causes the theory that maybe said family members ran off together, B) It keeps the disappearances at minimum spread, and C) Talent in this game MAY be arguably genetic.
Final Conclusion? I should NOT be surprised.
"Yo? Ebbbyyy?" A hand in front of my face. I snapped out of it.
"Heh? Oh, sorry, Case. Zoned out..." I shook my head, and got down to the nitty-gritty. "How long have you BEEN here, anyway?" I asked in incredulism.
"Ahh, about three weeks or summat." This shocked me. If my cousin had been missing for nearly a month, why hadn't her mother told mine?
She took one look at my no doubt baffled expression and retorted smugly, "I know what you're gonna say, so don't say it. Mama's not expecting me home for 'least another week. I'm supposed to be at a camp, ya know."
"Oh..." That still didn't explain everything, but I dropped it. "I can't believe it's really you. I mean, I can't believe you're HERE- ."
"Yeah! Go figure, eh? And we make quite the pair, huh?"
I only then realized that while I was burdened as a Dark Magician, she was inexplicably dressed as none other than the Dark Magician Girl. She had her headdress tucked lazily under one arm and was fanning herself with the other, sweating from the heat I knew that kind of armor generated, but looking like she had grown slightly used to it. Which was more than I could say for myself. Her staff was hooked at her left hip, tied with some kind of cloth that I recognized as part of a bed sheet. Good idea, actually.
Suddenly, I was being mercilessly noogied. In under two seconds, she'd pounced me, shoved my head down so I lost my balance, hooked one of her unreasonably muscular arms around my neck and attacked my less-than-clean hair with her fist.
"Ack! Aggh, stop it, Casey, I mean it, I- OW! HEY!!" I sputtered uselessly, struggling and pushing against her arm with the best of my efforts. It could be likened to a mouse swatting at an anaconda with it's little furry paws.
"Heh heh heh! Didn't get much EXERCISE while I was gone, I see! Little one, have I taught you NOTHING?!" She laughed evilly again, and shoved me across the room. I lost my balance (for the umpteenth time that night) and fell straight backward onto a bed, which, unfortunately, Will was inhabiting.
"Oof!" came the muffled protest from under the mountain or blankets, (which he'd decided to accept after all).
"Agh, sorry Will!" I said hastily, rolling off. I'd forgotten how far it was to the ground, though, and fell with a resounding thud.
"Unnnn..."
"Did anyone get the license number of that truck...?" Will groaned, cracking open an eye with a whole lot of effort. I sat up, with bruised backside and dignity, sending a venomous glares at the trouble-making imp that was my cousin. She was, of course, doubled over in laughter.
"... Who are you?" Will asked, turning his head to one side to look at Casey with his classic "I-am-Will-hear-me-roar,-suspicious-of-you" look.
"Casey, man! Sorry 'bout that; I shouldn't have unleashed the horrors of Eby upon thee!" She said, wiping the tears of mirth from her eyes.
Will didn't snort or mention it, but I saw his eyebrow cock upward at the mention of my nickname. I closed my eyes in utter, complete humiliation. Ooh... when I'd get my hands on her...
Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Will grunted something that sounded vaguely like, "H'llo," and rolled over.
Casey smirked a little, looking at the already-asleep bundle. "Heeey, score Eby! He's cyuuute." She grinned, winking at me. I'm pretty sure my face turned twelve shades of beet red.
"Wh-Wha?" I sputtered, then I hiss-shouted under my breath, "What the HELL does THAT imply?!" Well, now Will had BETTER be asleep...
Casey grinned mischievously and began prancing around, black hair bouncing in a rather comical way. "Eby has a boyfriend, Eby has a BOYFRIEND,"
"Shuddup!" I growled, leaping at her back and smacking her head.
"Aiiii! AIIII!" she shouted, mock-girl fighting me. After about forty pawing slaps, she stopped. Now, I was red for an entirely different reason. For a supposedly wimpy imitation of a fight, Casey still smacked pretty damned hard. I sighed testily.
"Aww, Eby... you're all grimy and stuff! Do you guys know where the showers are?" she asked me, grinning.
That got my attention. "Showers? They have frickin' SHOWERS here?!"
"Of COURSE!" She exclaimed, running a hand through her hair, which was slightly damp. I hadn't realized that before. "I don't stink, do I? And I've been here for longer than you."
I groaned. "Okay; What do I have to do to get you to tell me where they are?"
Casey looked appalled. "What ever do you mean by that?" she said, resting a hand to her heart, giving me an exaggerated hurt look, which morphed into a (in my opinion) INCREDIBLY sadistic smile. "All you have to do is confess to Will your undying love."
I rolled my eyes. I sort of had a feeling it would be along the lines of that. "Noooo, thank you," I drawled. "I think I'd rather rot in disease and famine."
Casey laughed heartily (Will must have been REALLY tired, she was making a TON of noise...) and slapped me on the back, where I was already sore. "Just kidding, cous. Down the hall and to the right." She paused then, frowning. I had no idea why until I saw that her eyes had drifted over to the door, which I had my back to.
I spun around on reflex, only to be greeted with the sight of "That Girl" standing in the doorway, leaning up against the frame and observing us.
"I see you've located your cousin," she stated. "It's really about time."
Casey frowned even more, the expression looking out-of-place on her tanned and easy-going features. "Stuff it. You planned this, didn't you?" she asked, not amused.
"Maybe, maybe not. But there's no need to get defensive; I merely came here to check on the RESIDENTS of this room."
She way she said "residents" clearly meant that Casey, not rooming here, was excused.
Casey snorted and with an all-mightily eye roll and a wink in my direction, strolled out the door, leaving me and the other alone in the room.
The girl regarded me with an odd expression, like she was looking at me through mirrored glass, and I couldn't see her in return. Now it was m turn to frown; I hated people staring at me. "What?" I asked curtly.
"How are your injuries?" she asked with a small measure of interest, finally seeming to realize that she was having a conversation, not a scientific observation.
"I'M just FINE," I spat. "... It's WILL who got it worse."
Her eyes half-lidded. "... And that is my fault how? I don't think I was the one holding the staff..."
I snapped. "You may as WELL have been! How can you actually believe that?! YOU were controlling me!" Where this sudden spurt of anger came from, I had no idea. Usually, I was so level-headed... I rarely ever lost it like this.
She seemed to see this as well, and voiced it. "Now, now; calm down. Wouldn't want to end up like your friend, would you?"
I closed my eyes in hatred, shaking. Now would not be a good time to get injured. Someone had to take care of Will while Ivy and Blaine were gone; I couldn't be lying in a pool of blood when they came back. "Just shut up. We'll be just FINE, no thanks to you."
"Very well." She said, turning to leave. However, she paused, and turned her head back to face her profile to me. "Oh, and by the way... you have practice again tomorrow. Best get some sleep, it's quite late."
"PRACTICE?" I half-shouted, half simply emphasized. Damn it, just when I was calming down, too... "Not ALL of us...?"
"Yes, all of you. Why would you think otherwise? I mean, you DID just say that you would be fine, right....?" She cocked an eyebrow to me, skeptical.
"Wh-What, no, no I meant that..." I stammered uselessly.
"Very well then. I'll see you all there, at five o' clock sharp." She took a few steps out the door and down the hall. I heard her voice ring out, "And don't be late."
I waited until she was a good distance away and out of earshot before I flung myself down full force onto my bed and shouted into the mattress, so as not to wake up Will.
How the HELL was I supposed to know that her obviously "desinged-for- provokation" question was a possible outlet to get out of "practice?" Groaning loudly and returning to my old pastime of punching the pillows in, I released every murderous tendency I had in a matter of three minutes.
Done and exhausted, I collapsed back onto my bed, panting hard, hair disheveled. I found myself fighting back the inexplicable urge to cry, probably out of frustration. It wouldn't do any good to sob and moan about how life wasn't fair, especially not here. I knew this, and yet it was so hard to believe. I honestly just wanted to curl up and wallow in self-pity and pity for my friends forever.
But then I remembered what Dad had told me once...
"Ebon, you will make mistakes. I can't stop you there," he'd said, reaching over to ruffle my hair. "And after that, you might want to spend your whole life obsessing over what you could have, or should have done. What you didn't know. But all that really matters in the end is what you can, and will do about it. And of course, what you've learned from it."
Letting out the last of my tensions in a long sigh, and reflecting on my father's words, I let my tired mind sleep.
******
{A/N: Here it is! I'm not dead!!! XD Well, HoTC is taking FOREVER AND A DAY to develop now. My inspiration is kaput, but I am far too stubborn to drop this project NOW! Eleven frickin chapters! GRRR!
Sigh I'm trying to keep the rating down. Really. But since Ebon and Will are just SO tempted to go swearing and such, I have to be careful...!
Oo ... oO Random paranoia! I have a fever... )
Ahh, yes, and if Kanashimi is reading this: I WROTE THIS CHAPTER FOR YOUUU!!! (DIES PROMPTLY) X) Someone likes my stooorieee...!!!
.......
OH GOD! XO
Uhhh, wh-what I meant in my "Notes for Chapters etc, etc" was that I could... maybe write SHOUNEN AI or SHOUJO AI. N-Not Yaoi or Yuri... O.o Oh, the hentai perviness... I can't write that...! O_O So, there will be NO HENTAINESS IN THIS STORY! I can't BELIEVE I forgot the definitions of those words!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!!!
I AM A FOOL! (runs away out of sheer humiliation and hides) @_@
~Demon~}