Author's notes:
Whew! It's almost over. This is almost the final installment of this fic. Then again, it IS a Christmas present. . .
Thank you LeDiva! Here's some. . .hmm. . .no, those are illegal. . .ermm. . .ah. . .gingerbread cookies!!!! Enjoy the fic and the cookies!
I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh!, any of the characters/monsters/etc., any cameras, any scenic spots, any Christmas lights and/or decorations, any buildings, any mountains, the song "Narcissus at Oasis" (that is owned by ryu, and the explanation for this is going to be a bit long), or anything else that isn't me (and I will spare Amelda the pain of looking at me for this chapter).
Amelda: You're only doing this because it's Christmas Eve.
Me: I could always have you overeat my mom's secret cookie recipe, even if you are underage.
Amelda: MMPH! I'm outta here!
---
Two days of sheer tourism. Amelda felt like a total moron. He was supposed to be destroying the world, NOT wandering around like a. . .tourist!
The beaches were hardly a place to go. The weather was still drizzly, and that made the sand all the more curdly. He overheard a couple saying that the sand in Waikiki wasn't real. Whatever that meant.
Instead, he had invested in a disposable camera. The walls of his room were a bit bare, and a few "intersting" pictures from Hawaii ought to brighten things up. It was his Christmas present to himself.
Amelda looked at the camera in his hands. He would wait until he reached California to develop his film. It was probably cheaper. In two days, he had logged more miles on his motorcycle than the other two Doom Warriors combined (Raphael's aimless wandering included).
The first day didn't take him very far. Some of the film held pictures of bits of artwork that some soul had painted on the sides of what should have been drab industrial buildings. If that type of artwork had been on a canvas, it would probably go for a small fortune.
He'd also taken pictures of a few amusing license plates. The cars were parked, and the drivers were nowhere to be seen. It wasn't his fault.
Hawaii, the place renown for its exotic beauty, did not contain a single woman that Amelda felt was photo-worthy. The majority of them were overweight. Most of the remainder painted the beauty on their faces. The rest were in elementary school. Some of the first two categories travelled arm-in-arm (or worse) with who he assumed were their boyfriends. On occasion, a boy would give him a funny look before distracting his girlfriend in a way that nauseated Amelda. He idly wondered if that would count as harassment.
On his way back into Waikiki, Amelda had taken pictures of the Christmas lights that decorated the business district. The award for gaudiest Christmas lights was a close call between the electric company and the newspaper company a few blocks away. The award for gaudiest Christmas decorations went to the city hall. Those decorations featured Santa and his wife with their feet in the fountain that ran near the hall. Santa's wife wore a casual dress that seemed to be unique to Hawaii.
Unfortunately, he hadn't been paying as much attention to the roads as he should have, and his motorcycle was "blessed" by what appeared to be a "present" left by a horse. The horse-drawn carriages looked like they were a part of the Christmas festivities. The smell lingered well into Waikiki.
The second day of photography had taken him around the island (almost). He had traveled to the northwestern point on Oahu, then took a picture of the extraordinarily gray clouds that hung over an angry ocean. On the way back, he took pictures of the vast pineapple fields and a shave ice store he had somehow run into. The shave ice had been wonderfully refreshing, but the line had made him sorely wish for the ability to feed the Leviathan. He'd also bought a t-shirt from the store, but he couldn't quite explain why. It almost felt like his little brother had wanted something, too.
On his way back, an old woman dressed in white looked like she wanted a ride. Amelda wasn't about to share his motocycle with an old woman! As he looked in his side mirror, he saw her face, clear as ever, gazing at him. He shrugged it off and moved on.
The final spot on his little road trip had been up one of the taller mountains on the island. The view was supposed to be magnificent. Instead, all he got were a bunch of storm clouds over the valley. This spot looked like it would be the absolute perfect place for a Hawaiian sunset (because the sunsets on the beach weren't worthy of his film).
His helmet had needed a good cleaning after the second day. The combination of sea salt and suicidal bugs had forced him to ride back from the shave ice store without a helmet. Fortunately, the cops were not out and about. He was somewhat thankful that he had stuck to t-shirts over the past couple of days. No one paid much attention to him.
A scream came from a nearby room. It sounded like Varon had finally been introduced to the monstrous bugs in Hawaii. They were almost big enough to be Duel Monsters. However, they didn't have anywhere near the attack strength to qualify as anything.
Something bit his arm. He swatted at the offending critter, but it escaped. The massive swarms of bugs were another reason why a t-shirt was far superior to a belly top. He didn't need mosquito bites on his stomach!
Something else buzzed. It flew around the light fixture before settling on it. This bug looked like it could eat a gecko. Its antennae were well over half the size of a CD. It was the biggest roach that Amelda had ever seen.
He screamed unabashedly.
---
Author's notes, again:
The coast of Waikiki wasn't always a sandy beach. A couple of hundred years ago, it was nothing but scrubland. Sand had to be imported, and the rest is history.
Amelda's first day had actually taken him a good distance. The artwork I'm referring to appears on a couple of buildings near the airport, and that's a fair distance from Waikiki. Artwork can also be seen on at least one building in Downtown Honolulu and in a few places in Waikiki. . .and one rather odd store in the area Varon went wandering in.
The license plates can be anything from amusing to raunchy. Vanity plates can have up to six letters/numbers and one or two spaces/dashes. No obvious obscenity is allowed. It doesn't sound like much, but it's more than enough for most people. I'll leave the license plates that Amelda photographed to you, the reader.
I do NOT know why this happens, but there have been several occasions when a high-schoolish girl would look at me before turning to her boyfriend and "distracting" him. It has always irritated me, and it wouldn't surprise me if a few guys did the same. If only Amelda were able to steal souls. . .
The Christmas displays will be more thoroughly explained later. So will his run-in with the old woman.
The first stop on Amelda's second day is the western "tip" of Oahu. It's Kaena Point, and on a good day, it offers a gorgeous view. Too bad the weather's being uncooperative.
Amelda's trip to the shave ice store was actually WELL out of his way. It's THE shave ice store to go to, if one has the patience to wait in a line that stretches for half a block. The store also sells shirts, mugs, and other small things. I will leave the store unnamed, for my own purposes.
Amelda's final stop was Lover's Lane, which is near the summit of Tantalus. Tantalus is a mountain that overlooks Manoa, and the view off of Lover's Lane is postcard-perfect. At night, Lover's Lane proves its name. Tantalus, despite being a residential area, is also a popular spot for nocturnal racing. The hairpin corners are VERY hard to navigate on a wet day.
Last but not least, "Narcissus at Oasis" features a video of. . .pictures. The Greek myth of Narcissus involves an image. The song itself is very peaceful, but very fast-paced.
Varon gets the next chapter, because he's cool like that. Right?
Reviews eternally welcome.