While I think of it, I have to do one thing. ::hug to Koriaena:: She reviewed in the first ten minutes it was up! Yes, it happened, and you wouldn't be alone in sharing Mai's opinion. God knows I do.
And for the record, this is only up so quickly because I had about half of it already written (as the rest of chapter three.). If a chapter ends of a cliff hanger, it's rarely for effect. It's usually because I'm having issues with what comes after.
Chapter Four: The Big Bang Theory
Life before humans was very simple. Respectfully avoiding anything bigger (Not much), eating anything smaller. But after humanity, life got that little bit more complicated. Respectfully telling anything bigger to get lost, eating anything not smart enough to scream and run. If it screamed and froze, or just ran, then it was up to them what they did. Usually ate them.
But today, they were worried. The stranger had been given a brief introduction, but there was no explanation for its warm, not-green scent. They were creatures of ice and air, much like the winged humans from the north. But this newcomer was fire and heat, with no idea of how to behave. He was being respectful, true, but that wasn't enough -
And the three elder Blue-Eyes had got as far as that in their thoughts before they felt something that worried them more than any stranger could.
The masters presence, so strong only moments before, grew almost suffocatingly, as though he was sucking them into his own skin, then flickered. Then it went out, as though he'd never been.
The three elder dragons took to the sky, screaming their rage and fear to the sky. The child below screamed as well, louder than the others, thrashing it's wings around, trying to get airborne. The red-eyed stranger wisely stepped back from them, but it felt their anxiety and joined the noise with a high keening wail. The three larger Blue-Eyes, still screeching, took off for the last place they had sensed their beloved master.
Téa's Restaurant
It was chaos. Glassed and bottles exploded as the temperature soared and their contents evaporated, filling the room with the scent of different alcohols. No one noticed the glass showering down upon them, too focused on the drama in the centre of the room.
There was a maelstrom of flames, swirling up within inches of the ceiling, within feet of Yami and Mai from their position crushed into the bar. Somehow, the man had moved to shield the woman with his own body. She, in her turn, had wrapped her arms around him, her claws digging into his shoulder blades as she buried her head into his chest. The flames had her petrified in both senses.
But harpy spells, once cast, required no further concentration. That was the only reason that the invisible wall Mai had summoned had not collapsed. The flames shattered against it, reaching out hungrily for the wood of the floor and ceiling, or the juicier targets of human/harpy flesh, but didn't get through.
Nothing could block the heat though. In seconds, the light frost covering on the people had melted, and they'd gone straight to the stage where they were now burnt and tanned - even though some, like Mai, buried as much of themselves into other people as they could.
In the middle of this sat Joey, completely oblivious, hands clenched into fists as the flames rained down on him, roaring like an unhappy lion -
And then they went out.
The noise went on . The heat didn't let up. Shadows of flames were dancing over the floor. But the flames themselves had gone out. Yami rose warily, bringing Mai with him as she tried to work her claws out of his shoulders. The pain made him gasp, but it was something he'd have to live with.
"Is it over?" Yugi asked softly, crawling to the end of the bar. He sat on the floor, looking pleadingly at his brother. "Is it?"
Yami shrugged. "I don't - "
"It's not."
Everyone looked at Mai, including Tristan and Téa who were just managing to climb to their feet, glass trickling from their clothes. "How do you know?"
The harpy shrugged and pointed over Yami's shoulder. The two behind the bar looked, blinked, and dived back down to the floor. Yami half turned, looking over one now-brown shoulder, and gasped again.
The blinding edge to Bakura's eyes had spread, until his eyes were glowing. He was... smiling?
That fierce triumphant little smile was the last thing they saw.
Seto would never hurt him. Not intentionally. Mokuba knew that like he knew his own name. It did hurt when his brother wasn't there when Mokuba needed him, but he made up for it when he was there, always dropping whatever he was doing to listen to his brother. But that couldn't completely erase the sting.
He had almost hurt him once. But it wasn't Seto's fault! Seto was just doing what big brothers did - protecting his little brother. Mokuba wasn't too clear on the details, he'd been unconscious for most of it, but he knew that when he came around Seto was stood wide-eyed in the doorway or their house, covered in blood. Mokuba had gone to see what was wrong, why his brother was acting so strangely. Seto had just been stood there limply, hands loose by his side, eyes wide and blank, like he was dead. The dragons had been there. Screaming. Flaming. And Seto had looked at him...
The boy didn't think any further than that. All he needed to remember was that if his brother lost it, if his brother was unconscious, then the dragons would come to see what the problem was.
Last time that happened, his whole town had gone up in flames, and it had been all Mokuba's fault. He wasn't going to let something like that happen again.
The blinding light swept through the restaurant. Yugi and Yami flung their arms up to shield their eyes, and Mai buried her head back into Yami's shoulder. Somewhere, far away by the sound of it, a man was screaming. Not a voice she recognised. She could feel the human she was clinging to brace himself, could feel him crushing her to his chest. Mai gasped, then gasped again as... as...
She knew this feeling, though she'd never seen it on such a grand, flamboyant stage. Healing magic - although not something she could manage on her own - was pretty common. Light magic was as well. But no one ever combined the two.
Humans. Couldn't do anything without mixing it up.
The light raced through her, tracing a glittering trail through every vein, glowing on her skin, shooting off fireworks inside her head. Her bleeding lip burned then froze. Her burned skin returned to it's original shade of white. Something pressed against her claws/fingernails, pushing them out of Yami's back. Oops.
Even with her eyes closed and her face pressed into the human's shoulder, the light was pressing against her eyelids. She didn't know when it would end, but hopefully soon...
And then a voice asked "Mai? Why you hugging that guy?"
There was a loud, harsh scream. Darkness retreated from him instantly. He looked up, and saw the startled face of the blond boy as he vanished. He could feel himself drifting free, feel his body calling, and an excruciating pain in his hands. But he made the mistake of looking back.
Outlined in the white was a black shape, standing up straight as it stared at him.
Chocolate brown eyes met. One pair startled, almost scared, the other hurt and sad.
The shadowy shape finally gave him a mocking bow, watching him disappear. The light was tearing at him, ripping his edges.
[See you soon Hikari,] he promised. [Light only makes the darkness stronger, remember?]
"Is that a threat?" Bakura asked.
[It's a warning. Bad things will happen here.] The shadow shrugged it's tattered shoulders. [I'd prefer it if you left. But I know how stubborn you are. You'll stay. I'll have to keep an eye out for you.]
The ragged shadow reached out with what was left of its fingers and gently brushed them against Bakura's cheek.
[I missed you Hikari. Remember that.]
And then Bakura was back in his own body, staring at two figures in what looked like a rather desperate clinch, the scent of his own burnt flesh in the air, automatically trying to work his scorched hands out of the shoulders of the man before him.
'And people wonder why my hair's white,' he reflected ruefully.
Mai turned her head slightly, blinking to clear her vision. Behind all the annoying sparkles and fluorescent colours, she could make out the white haired man staring at her with raised eyebrows, without the shadowy veil covering him. Then her view of the healer was interrupted by the fire knight sitting up, rubbing his aching shoulders and looking around with the air of someone who's completely lost.
"Where - how - why - " seemed to be the most he could manage as he stared at the broken glasses and bottles, the startled people, and after her turned, the almost- albino blowing lightly on his burnt hands. "Was that me? Sorry pal."
The healer looked up at him, then gave him a small smile. A fake one Mai thought grumpily, her eyes clearing. One of those automatic ones you do when you're not really listening. "It's quite all right," he assured them. "I can do something about it in a moment. Just let me sit down for a minute and I'll be fine."
"Kura. You are sat down." Tristan informed him, stretching and standing.
"Am I? Oh." The man blinked. "Well." Then he returned to his study of his hands.
Mai turned her face the other way, and got a wonderful look at the girl scowling jealously. She met the girl's bright blue eyes and snuggled in a little closer, smirking evilly.
(He was comfortable, all muscle and skin. If he'd been a harpy, Mai would probably have joined in the scrabble to own him.)
The move seemed to remind the man that she was still there, and he unwound his arms from her, apologising.
"It's okay," Mai assured him, turning to the girl and winking. Téa was it? Téa fumed and looked as though she wanted to do nothing more than slap the smirk off her face. A small part of her wanted the human to do that. The rest was calmly pointing out that she wouldn't degrade herself by getting into a catfight with/over a human.
"So?" Joey - the knight asked. "Why were ya hugging him?" He was sat up, arms hooked around his knees, watching Mai with open curiosity as she approached him.
That was a little off putting, but Mai took it all in her stride, catching the collar of Joe - the knight's shirt and lifting him to his feet.
"What I do and who with is none of your business," she snapped. It was supposed to sound authoritative, but came out peevish instead. Damn.
"True enough." J - the knight agreed. "Just wondering." His smile was a little distracting...
No! Bad Mai! Stick to the topic! She gave the knight a shake.
"We're even now. You saved Ruby's life, I helped save yours. We're even."
"Fine. Didn't do it so you'd owe me though."
Mai grit her teeth. "That's not the point. The point is, next time you get in trouble you're on your own. Okay?"
"Fine." he agreed, that easy grin still on his face.
Mai scowled and gave him another shake for trying to distract her like that. "Well... Good!" She let go and stomped away. Stupid humans. Stupid knights. Stupid spells...
Just as she was about to ask the healer what had happened and what he'd done, Joey spoke up.
After she had let him go, he had stood there, head down, hands in pockets, looking for all the world as though he was trying to make the most difficult discision of his life.
Finally he looked up, the serious look on his face more appealing than his smi- BAD MAI!!! STOP IT!!!
"I'm sorry for what I said before," he informed her. "And I guess I just wanna say thanks. Thanks for helping me. I really appreciate it."
Mai gaped at him for a moment, eyes going wide. He'd apologised. And he'd thanked her.
"You... you..." she stuttered. She gave up.
"YOU IDIOT!!!"
He'd also annoyed her.
She spun, scowling at Tristan. "I'm going back to the castle. Goodbye."
Everyone stared at her, as though unsure what had set her off. The last thing she saw as she stormed out was Joey looking after her, completely bewildered.
And cute.
Oh hell!
He hadn't expected -
He'd never guessed -
He'd thought -
He stood upright, clenching his hands into fists. His nails dug into his palm. The stings hurt. Not as much as what had just happened, but at least this was a real hurt, not one that would tear his very soul apart.
He hadn't lied. He'd never lied to him. He may not have been - he may have - no matter what he did, he'd always been honest to him.
And he'd never meant to hurt him. If it was avoidable, then he wouldn't hurt him.
But he hadn't lied today.
He lashed out, and the blood puddled onto the floor.
He did miss him.
If only because having him there made him feel half-way sane.
Yay! Joey/Kura resolved!! Woo! PARTY!!!! ::dances in chair:: ::hands out cookies to those poor people who've suffered reading this:: I hope I can get back to better chapters now. I had plans to carry on with the conversation after Mai had left, but hey, it seemed a good place to end.
I'm not too sure about the Mokuba part. Ack. Not good. The dragon part... okayish. The light part... totally crap.
Constructive criticism instead of flames? Please? See you next time!