Forbidden Fruit
by: Wareta Shooki
All notes at bottom.
Thanks to those who reviewed.
Disclaimer's in prologue.
Forbidden Fruit
Chapter 8
The Bane of Darkness
Part 2
"Everyone holds an inner darkness. It is simply the way of the world, Kaiba."
He stared into those crimson orbs and wondered how they could hold so much truth, so much heartbreak when he'd never even been outside the palace walls. How was it this young Pharaoh held within him such sincerity, such unbidden love for everything he touched, when the world around him was slowly killing him? It just was, and Kaiba didn't find the will in him to destroy the Pharaoh's sense of false reality. If it kept him alive for a few more years, who was he to argue?
"But you cannot kill someone you have never gotten to know." He replied, icy midnight eyes flicking to the amber ones of the transformed wolf sitting so docilely at Atemu's feet. Golden fur that covered that entire huge body glittered in the afternoon Egyptian sunlight that poured in from the high windows of the main, royal gathering chamber.
Those crimson orbs followed his High Priest's gaze to that of the wolf at his feet. He noticed that those amber eyes held only a gaze for the priest before him. Was it true then, the rumours that Kaiba had indeed found someone he loved? That someone had finally broken through the ice around his heart? Perhaps so, but even then, Atemu could not let this wolf live.
"You know our laws, Kaiba." Atemu's voice alone held such regret at having to dispose of such a beautiful creature. But his crimson irises showed nothing, not even the regret he held within him at knowing he would be destroying the one person, animal-transformer or not, that had managed to teach Kaiba to love again. And that, he knew from personal experience, was no easy task.
Kaiba knelt then, his arms spreading, the Sen'nen Rod in his right hand, held expertly still, as he silently invited the wolf into his embrace. It didn't hesitate before running to him, nuzzling his cheek gently, his amber eyes staring off into the distance over his shoulder, but not really seeing the beautiful hieroglyphs on the walls of the huge chamber. No, he saw something else and remained silent. He saw and smelt his death on the wind, and the Pharaoh Atemu's regret, but most of all, he felt Kaiba's love for him like a wave upon a sandy ocean shore.
It was calming, soothing, and he would never forget it. Nipping his ear, the wolf stepped back, sitting there, its golden tail curled around its huge paws and in that one moment, those amber eyes bled to the brilliant honey-amber hue they'd always been in his human form with just the tiniest hints of brown. Within those astounding irises rested a promise. One that pledged this wolf would walk by Kaiba's side once again.
"Thank you, Kirlyan." Kaiba murmured, standing and looking at Atemu with strange darkened eyes. In that moment, the Pharaoh watched his most trusted friend die inside, and watched the hatred he knew the young priest would harbour for him in the future take root and spread.
"Mahado," Atemu said sharply, but his voice was subdued, eyes locked in that never ending icy midnight gaze. The priest stepped forward. "Take this animal-transformer. You know what to do."
"Yes, my Pharaoh." was the murmured response as the man bowed and led the wolf away. Kaiba had one last glimpse of those amber eyes before they were gone. He never looked away from his former friend's crimson stare. Despite the heartfelt apology in them, despite the regret they held, he didn't look away and he didn't stop hating him.
In the distance howling and whining echoed through the eerily silent palace. And that was when something in him snapped. Some line that Kirlyan had kept alive and thriving died as one last howl echoed with the fading daylight. And on that single howl rode one name:
"SETO!"
He jerked in the seat he was sitting in, wondering briefly where the hell he was. Blinking and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he realized he'd been crying. What? Why had he been then his dream returned to him in bits and pieces and he gripped his hands into fists so tightly, his knuckles bled white. Glancing around the room, he noticed he was once more in the white room with dark blue border and bed draped in matching dark blue sheets and comforter.
Mokuba lay sleeping in those sheets, looking so small and pale, though the brunette knew he was nowhere near being either of those. Mokuba was more like their mother, dark and beautiful. Not handsome, but downright beautiful. He had her long unruly black hair that still managed to be as soft as silk. Her violet-sapphire eyes that sparkled in any light, and always held in their depths a forgiveness that everyone experienced at least once from her, and her dark, olive brown skin that looked a golden bronze in the sunlight.
And then there was him. He was the exact mirror image of their father, tall, pale and slender. He was six foot five inches tall, with pale skin that seemed to glow like the moonlight no matter what light he was in. He had their father's cunningly sharp, icy midnight gaze and mop of rich brown hair that, like their mother's, somehow managed to be silky and undeniably thick. His body wasn't as scrawny as many people thought but, when he moved, the muscles were there, hidden, but there.
Rising to his feet, happy that his left leg wasn't as stiff as it had been two days before when Iilya Ah'kentyah had attacked Mokuba (the bitch), he approached the bed where his kid brother slept. Dr. Takeida said that he, himself, may leave, but Mokuba should stay in the hospital for a few more days, seeing as he keeps getting hurt. The undertone in the doctor's voice was enough for Kaiba to know he was speaking lowly of his lack of protection for the boy.
A soft growl emitted from his throat and he stopped himself from tearing at the thing nearest him. Which happened to be a night stand. With a heavy, heartfelt sigh, he stumbled back, and sank into the chair he'd just stood up from. Leaning his left elbow on the armrest, he placed his cheek on his palm and just watched the black-haired boy sleep on, his chest rising and falling with his gentle, steady breathing.
"It's been so long. . ." He whispered, his eyes closing to half-mast before darkening and loosing the white that usually surrounds the human eye, his pupils bleeding into that icy midnight hue and causing fire to dance within them, sparkling and shimmering. Just like those amber eyes. . . . Just like Jounouchi's eyes. . . .
He sat up ramrod straight suddenly, his eyes very wide. Holy! Blinking, he rummaged his memory and found that the form of Kirlyan, the werewolf in his dream, and Jounouchi, the blonde-haired boy from his current life, had melded into the same person. Their eyes, when they were amber, were exactly the same! So, maybe Yami was right. Maybe Jounouchi did had a connection to the past that none of them really saw before.
And he now knew why. Muttering an apology to Mokuba he ran to the door and pulled it open. Ted Forester, the Sergeant of the Domino City police force, was standing across the hall, his dark brown eyes glittering but bland as ever. Cop eyes. The eyes of a cop who's seen it all, and done it all. Possibly a good thing, but Kaiba was leaning toward the idea of that possibly being a bad thing.
"Mr. Kaiba." He said simply, his flaming red hair contrasting his eyes. It wasn't odd, just. . . well it was odd. Hell, weren't all red-heads supposed to have either green or blue eyes? Pfft, yeah and he was a brunette with the most unique eyes of all. Except for, perhaps Yami Atemu's eyes. Crimson was definitely not a normal colour.
"Forester, I'm going to make a phone call." He said before leaving the door open and walking down the hall, hands in the pockets of his trench coat. Jounouchi had brought it from his house yesterday when he came at eight o'clock to meet him. It'd been a week, then, since they'd last held each other. Jounouchi having to work after school ended. Amazingly enough, they all passed high school and the graduation celebration ceremony for the seniors was set for the second week of next month.
Here was hoping he lived that long.
"Word law." came the unintelligible reply. Ted was usually like that. Had been for awhile now. Shrugging it off as someone else that was weirder than Yuugi and his friends, yes, Jounouchi included, he continued down the hall, taking two rights, one left, and another right until he reached the service desk on the seventh floor, which, amazingly enough, was the floor his and Mokuba's room were on.
The nurse looked up and smiled.
"Mr. Jounouchi said he was on his way over here." She said. The woman's name was Ceilya Linderman, and he'd called her after Jounouchi had come to the hospital after the night of the second attack on both him and Mokuba. She had somehow managed to get a job working on the same floor and at the same hospital that he and Mokuba were placed in. He stared at her smile and saw the barest hint of fangs behind black painted lips. If ever the word 'gothic' came to mind, Ceilya fit the name perfectly. Even in her white nurse jacket (whatever the hell they called them) she wore black pants and T-shirt with straps hanging off the pants and attaching the shirt's half-cut off sleeves to the shoulders.
In all truth, he liked the outfit and thought she wore the clothes well. Other's, they just needed to get lives and eat more. . . Hell, maybe get a social life. It might help them. It might help them a lot. He leaned on the white counter, his coat half falling over his shoulders, showing the silk, blue button down shirt he wore, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows under the arms of his trench coat, and the bottom tucked into tight leather pants that really hid nothing from anyone daring enough to 'sneak-a-peak.'
"Yeah, thanks, Ceilya. But. . ." He dropped his voice, seeing as this 'intersection' was crawling with doctors and nurses that didn't know the real reason behind the attacks on him and his little brother. "Do you know the name Kirlyan?"
Her pale-green eyes stared at him, and they were just that. Eyes. Yes, she was an eight thousand year old vampyre, but she still didn't try to drawn him in with her eyes. No, scratch that, she'd tried, and failed. Miserably. Sighing softly, she nodded. Standing up, she came around the desk/counter and slid her hands into the pockets of her white nurse's overcoat that looked oddly like the coats doctors wore. But what the hell did he know, she was just one of the inhuman guards here to protect Mokuba and himself, and he really didn't know much after that.
Nor did he entirely care.
With a resigned sigh, he fell into step beside her and slipped his own hands into his pockets. The black trench coat matched wonderfully with his blue shirt, black leather pants and dark blue Nikes. He was simply colour-coded today. Oddly enough, it didn't bother him as much as it used to.
"Yeah, I know the name Kirlyan." She said when they were on the roof of the hospital, it only had seven floors, and knew they wouldn't be overheard. "Jaenelle used to control him. She was his Mistress, he,her animal to call."
Kaiba nodded, understanding all of what she'd just said. After all, it'd taken him only a night to learn and memorize the customs, history, and ways of the vampyric-community. He also knew that the Master of the City was currently a woman named Nikolaos that was none to happy with him for some reason. He and Ceilya, among others, had still to figure that one out. Everything else had fallen into place. Now if only the glue would hold.
Then they'd be getting somewhere.
Those pale-green eyes turned to him, staring from beneath a few wayward tresses of white-blonde hair that was so vibrant, it was almost silver or white entirely. Her skin held the throbbing warmth of the living. She'd already fed. But on who? He didn't want to know that answer.
Long ago he had wondered if the legend about vampyres being unable to walk in the daylight hours was true of not. Ceilya had taught him that it didn't matter whether they could or not, it depended on how strong the vampyric blood line or the strength of the powers. Being a master vampyre was just a plus, having the years to back it up was even better.
"Why do you ask of Kirlyan?" Her voice was mere bells and chimes on the wind.
Kaiba stared out into the distance, looking over the vast city of Domino, Japan. Two and a half hours from Tokyo, and they were still such a small city located almost exactly on the Pacific ocean shoreline. But he wasn't complaining, apparently neither was anyone else who lived around here. Sighing, he shrugged, leaning his back against the high brick railing that went around the entire perimeter of the hospital's roof and locked his hands over his stomach.
One icy midnight eye peered at her through rich brown bangs.
"I just awoke from a dream. I had been. . . in love with him. When the pharaoh of Egypt was about to kill him because of our laws, I said 'Thank you, Kirlyan.' After waking up, I was thinking about Katsuya and how his eyes turned the exact same colour of amber as Kirlyan's were in my dream. And I realized, maybe Katsuya did have a link to the past that we didn't know about before." He replied finally.
Ceilya chuckled and shook her head. "You, Seto Kaiba, are love-sick, and it is just beautiful." She said, her voice echoing with amusement, the soft sound of her laughter dancing along his spine and causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. She may look human, play the part wondrously, but she was not human. He just had to keep reminding himself of that. She was one of the monsters, no matter whose side she was on.
He just glared at her.
"Okay, all seriousness now." She said, her laughter ending abruptly, the amusement fading from her eyes, leaving only a stillness the dead can have. "Kirlyan died because he refused to step down from his position in the Council and acknowledge the Pharaoh Atemu as his master when it was clear he loved another. The pharaoh agreed to abide by our laws and kill the werewolf. He was one of the most powerful ever to walk this ungrateful earth." She paused and a thoughtful look overcame her delicate features. "Many mourned his death."
"Even me."
Ceilya glanced at him and smiled, showing fang purposely. "Yes, even you, Kaiba."
They stood in companionable silence for a few moments longer, pondering what the other had said and thinking about how all the puzzle-pieces could fit together to form an end to this oddly insane plot of Nikolaos's. With a sigh that echoed the other's perfectly, they returned to the hospital's halls, Kaiba returning to his room to await Jounouchi who was on his way to see him, and Ceilya to take up her post at the service desk, her pale-green eyes glittering with a power Kaiba had once known and surpassed. Now he feared he'd never regain his memories on how to use it before all this was over.
It seemed the entire world consisted of monsters and Nikolaos was only one of them.
That thought wasn't pleasant, wasn't pleasant at all.
"I want to see him, damn it!"
"You cannot, he is sleeping."
"Well wake him up!"
A gasp followed this. "I'll have you know that I'll do no such thing."
"I'd didn't need to know that. Because, frankly, I don't care."
"You're not going in there."
"Like you're gonna stop me?"
"Yes."
A burst of laughter that was cold and unpleasant sounded and Kaiba shivered, sharing a look with Mokuba whose eyes stared at him from across the room. Dusk had fallen around the city of Domino and Jounouchi was supposed to be coming to pick them both up from the hospital. Dr. Takeida had given in and said they could both go home. Hallelujah to that.
"Sod off, I'm going in there, he's waking up, and we're leaving." A brief pause before the wall shuddered nastily. "Together. Do I make myself clear?"
A long silence and a thud was heard before the door opened and Jounouchi walked in, amber eyes gleaming dangerously, the look in them non too happy. But Kaiba could only smile as he rose from his seat and walked over to his boyfriend. He pulled the rumpled, unhappy-looking blonde against him, showing him silently, physically, just how excited he was by seeing him alone.
The blonde moaned in response. Mokuba watched as the two kissed and snickered. They were so deeply in love that it was hilarious how neither of them would admit it. He slid off the bed, busying himself with tying his trainers and making sure he had everything before turning his gaze to his brother and Jounouchi. They were staring at him, Kaiba's arm around Jou's waist, the other leaning into him, those eyes still amber and looking extremely content.
"You ready, scamp?" Jounouchi asked, his eyes lighting on fire with the smile that lifted his lips. Mokuba smiled back seeing the tiniest hint of sharp canines. He'd talked with Ceilya, the master vampyre that was his personal guard, and knew that in a year or so, maybe less, those canines would grow to fangs. How odd. Jounouchi wasn't human but didn't know it. Just goes to show things aren't always what they seem.
"Readier than you'll ever know." Mokuba replied running over to them.
Together, they left down the hall, waiting for the elevator to open. Ceilya walked over and smiled. "I'll see you guys later at Yuugi's. I'm going to finish up here. Plus change." She winked and left, seeming to vanish when they blinked. But it seemed only they noticed. Ted Forester walked up just as the elevator doors were opening. Ushering Jounouchi and Mokuba inside, he held the doors open, looking at the Sergeant who stared at him sternly.
"Be careful, Mr. Kaiba." He said before shaking hands with him, slipping a knife sheath complete with blade, up the sleeve of Kaiba's trench coat. Hiding his astonishment well, Kaiba bowed politely (Jounouchi was wearing off on him) and stalked into the elevator. He kept the blade hidden from the other two, not entirely wanting to know how they'd react.
It wasn't long before they were in Jounouchi's car (it was a rental) and driving down the streets of Domino City towards Yuugi's house and the Game Shop. Kaiba lay back in the passenger's seat, Mokuba laid out in the back, his eyes staring at Jounouchi's face. The way his eyes glittered in the passing car headlights and the streetlamps that dotted the roads like lightning bugs. How his unruly golden locks fell across his face and almost to his shoulders in perfect waves.
Maybe, just maybe. . . he'd be able to prove to Jounouchi that it wasn't all ice under his barriers. That there was some warmth in him. His hand slithered over the seat and raised armrest between them to lay docilely on Jounouchi's right thigh, massaging the tense muscles there, but causing others to spring to life in different ways. A small, self-satisfied smirk lighted Kaiba's eyes and he winked when the blonde looked at him.
"Pushy bastard." Jounouchi mumbled teasingly before twitching his leg, telling Kaiba to move that hand closer to other, naughtier places.
"Later." He replied, looking utterly smug.
Jounouchi just smiled, deciding to continue driving than risk throwing something at the smug brunette CEO. He sighed and remembered something Ishizu had told him at the end of the Battle City Tournament when she'd caught him alone, that is. And that was no easy task at all.
And, even now, her softly spoken words echoed like thunder in his mind:
"Change will come, Katsuya Jounouchi. And when it does, only you will be able to control the outcome."
End Chapter 8 of Forbidden Fruit
Okay people, thanks to those who reviewed, and thanks to those who have yet to do so. Please, review, I'm hoping to get a hundred and thirteen reviews before this story's finished. :she smiles hopefully: Anyway, the lemon is fast approaching, whether it's in the next chapter or not, I do not know, but it is coming.
Anoo, there's not much to say other than thank you to my wonderful reviewers and to keep it coming with the reviews. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Go ahead and read the next chapter, it's a treat since I haven't updated in forever it seems.
Arigatou, minna-san!
-Wareta Shooki
Last Edited 3 / 03 / 05
