A/N: The last proper chapter… I typed the epilogue a while ago, I'll put it up tomorrow… I feel a little sad, right now.

Augee (Hope that's spelt right…): Yay! Two reviewers:D Pity it's only for this chapter and next, heehee… And, well, Lira is kinda an exaggerated version of Dorian (That dude from 9E) But I don't think Dorian is actually a deliberate jerk. I mean, he just takes over, he doesn't… Oh, who am I kidding? Yes.

Willowwind: I didn't respond in an E-mail! Yay! Um… Once again, I have no idea what to say, so… yeah. I'm really not good at responses… Sorry… But remember that huge ice cream I mentioned? Well, the result was everything from Duke phoning Tristan downwards. Enjoy, you who shares my feelings on certain issues… (May or may not make more sense when you get there. Oh well.)

Disclaimer: Oh, look, a flying pig.

Chapter Twelve: Fallen From Grace

Standing on the bridge, Azreal could see right down into the lower heathens of Wherever swirling beneath her, the few buildings derelict and sinking into the mist. When the City had first been built, the lower Heathens were just too low, right on the boundary between the two realms. Now they were sinking into the 'protective' mist that encircled the entirety of any of the floating Musing cities, a mist that had been slowly eroding away at that which was to close to it, assimilating it into itself. As such, no-one went down there anymore, officially. Not even kids looking for a dare went down anymore, most were more cowardly then they'd let on. Only Azreal knew every crevice, shallow, and infirmity there was down there, because of all the times she'd hidden down there. Hidden from the judging eyes of those she lived with. Now she would never explore it again.

Despite all the horrible things said and done to her, Azreal did not want to leave. Apart from all the hazy, basic memories from early childhood, this was the only home and the only family she had known. No friends to speak of, but then she wasn't a very likable person.

She was just Weird. With a capital 'W'.

A weirdo.

The round peg in the square hole.

She was a freak.

A freak who didn't fit in. Not here, and not on Earth either. Like an actor in the back of a horse suit. She could pretend all she liked, but it wouldn't change the fact she had two legs instead of four.

Somewhere in the middle.

Maybe she should just stay in the middle, skulk around in the mists of the lower heathens until she to was assimilated into it, then her consciousness' would be forever eloped in the swirling mists of time till the sun expanded and Earth was done for.

Something was falling into the mist, small and round. As it fell, the little light there was in the shadow of the tiers above reflected off it, causing the drop to shimmer as it fell. Azreal watched, entranced, as it plummeted, followed by another, and another, and another… But it wasn't raining.

Hers.

Someone came and stood beside her. Her mother. Azreal refused to look up. Strange. A week ago, she would've killed for an opportunity like this, now all she wanted her mother to do was go away. Did someone still classify as a mother if they fired and exiled their own children?

"No-one will know." Millierie said reproachfully "As far as anyone who wasn't in that courtroom knows, you're still in hospital. We'll tell them you died, if you want."

Azreal maintained a bitter silence.

"Az…" Millierie said uselessly. "I had no choice…"

Azreal looked her straight in the eye in the way that Ruby had taught her for dealing with the press, and replied: "I know. You said."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Speed-Inspiring, The Muses' Ultimate Tutorial and Tips states, is the process by which one may take ideas from one person and give them to another in order to save time. For example, if you had two people in room, one who had an excess of ideas but not time to work with them all and another with no ideas, you could transfer ideas from the first to the second.

This idea was established from JORAN'S THEORY (For more information see p127- Musing Methods Now Illegal) which also covered the idea that if you took an exhausted idea from one person and gave it to another, the idea would thus be replenished naturally without the need for more Muses to keep it alive.

During the ECOMIC DEPRESSION (See p346- How Environment affects Creativity) when Creativity was at it's lowest points and the Musing population was thusly dying off, Joran's Theory was implemented, but was discovered to be a disaster overnight.

When an Idea was re-cycled, the energy was tainted. It did not belong to the human it was in, so did not agree with them. This did not only cause a general rise of fraud and money-laundering on Earth, (Where energy becomes useless) it caused much of the population to fall ill from Contaminated Energy.

It is because of this that 'Speed Inspiring' that despite the save in time and therefore money is illegal. The Energy collected could be going into any food stuff, and the disease could spread among the populace.

(See also p562- Musing Illnesses and p8- Methods of Inspiration)

Total Deaths related to Speed Inspiring (Figures for year 10-20-10): 19, 887, 702 – The largest killer ever seen in the Musing community.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

At the 'enquiry', Azreal and the rest of the room had listened in silence as a steward (Sounding bored out of her scull) listed all the bloopers Azreal had made in her visits to Earth. Some of the memories made her cringe. It was a rather long list. Miracle she'd made it this far, really. Seems that her ability to pull stuff off at the last minute had prevailed more often then she'd realised.

When the list was finally over, Millierie's voice rang out over the silent room.

"Well, let's get down to business, shall we?" She said calmly, no signs that her heart was breaking as she put her own child on trial.

And they had.

It was surprisingly straight forward. After all, there was no point in denying anything she had blatantly done.

Had she or had she not knowingly revealed herself to the humans Duke Devlin (85217a2), Yugi Motto (50097a2), Tristan Taylor (91119a2), Mai Valentine (76396b2), and Joey Wheeler (69901a2), leading to excessive mind-wipes? Yes.

Had she or had she not inadvertedly shown the above humans (85217a2, 50097a2, 91119a2, 76396b2, 69901a2) MUTT and Character notes? Yes.

Had she or had she not inadvertedly restored the memories of Doug Mitsan (36920a51) by visiting his home unnecessarily despite the fact he was off-limits? Yes.

Had she or had she not spent much of the time attempting to force Ryou Bakura (64108a3) and Téa Gardener (54807b2) into a relationship despite noticing on numerous occasions that they had no want to leading to them misleading and being mislead by their friends? Yes.

Had she or had she not attempted to force Ryou Bakura (64108a3) into a relationship with Téa Gardener (54807b2) despite the fact he was already in a firm and long-standing relationship with another person? Not knowingly.

Had she or had she not been indirectly responsible for causing Seto Kaiba (017796y) to miss a vital meeting and thus change the direction of his company? Yes.

Had she or had she not…

The questions went on and on for hours, or so it seemed. Then various people had to come and give testimony as to whether or not they thought she was a terrorist.

First up, Ruby. Said Azreal wouldn't have the guts/brain to plan even a mini-sabotage, even if she wanted to, which, incidentally, she didn't.

Opal- Pointed out that the way people treated Azreal, she certainly had a motive, but as of yet had not tried to wreak revenge. Did she think and attempt would be made? No, Azreal was just a klutz.

Emerald- Said Azreal would never do anything so terrible. Cried dramatically.Lira: Said he didn't think she would deliberately try to hurt musing community, but would do so anyway. Made numerous references to human blood. Voiced worries/suspicions of her not being in full mental health, as she was always accusing him of speed-inspiring or doing something strange. Suggested that she should be made to leave work, perhaps temporarily, to seek professional help. Jerk.

Azreal watched in a daze, and, when asked if she wanted to say anything, she replied in the same stupor, 'No'. what was the point? All the accusations were true, she'd already admitted them. She'd like to ask who Ryou was supposedly in a relationship with, but it didn't seem appropriate somehow. And whenever she tried to tell people that Lira speed-inspired on a fairly regular basis, they would ask for proof. All the proof was right there in front of them, in his case notes. What more could she give? So she said no. There was no point in defending herself. Now all they needed was for Millierie to wrap up the case and declare a verdict. Goodbye job…

"Now," Millierie said, her voice commanding and daring anyone to argue. "From the testimonies, I feel it is fairly same to say that Azreal is not trying to sabotage the Musing community. Any disagreements?"

There were none. Lira looked like he would love to, but he had no say in the final decision, and it wouldn't suit the act he put on in public of being a caring, understanding, gentleman.

"However…" Millierie continued, indicating that it was still not over. "There are still undeniable factors to consider- and I'm not going to repeat the list from earlier, we all know what they are- before we decide what to do. Although, yes, Miss Kiyoko did break numerous rules, it was her that caused Mr Wheeler to update, not Lira as we originally believed. Also, the trick that Azreal inadvertedly began has so far- though not completed as of yet- only succeeded in bringing the group closer together. And, as we know, friendship and love both create more Creative mindsets. Thus, Azreal has brought us back more energy then we were hoping to get, although admittedly not from the proposed source."

Hold on a minute. This was good… Maybe she'd be okay. And so far, her mother could not be accused of favouritism. She began to breathe again a little. All she needed now was for Millierie to declare the final verdict, then she'd know for sure…

"All things considered and weighed against each other…" Millierie said slowly. "The positive does not balance out the negative, and so… so I have no choice but to… to rule for Azreal Kiyoko's immediate exile from Wherever and all Musing cities as a likely danger to herself and her fellow Muses."

Azreal gasped, along with her sisters. Lira smirked smugly. Now there'd be no-one around to arouse suspicions of exactly what he was doing when he was down in Earth.

"Court dismissed." Millierie said, heavily.

No sooner had the last letter been formed, Azreal ran out of the room. She couldn't face them, none of them, and so she ignored their calls as she ran past them.

And so, she had ended up here- on a bridge above the lower heathens beside her mother for the last time.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Duke was phoning Tristan, trying to arrange something. After all, it was the last day of the holidays the following day, and he and Joey still had things to celebrate. Provided their friends had managed to make up, that was.

"Hello?" Tristan said finally.

"Hey." Duke replied. "It's me. So, how'd it go earlier?"

"I dunno." Tristan sighed. "We never found them. What's the matter, anyway?"

"I was just trying to re-schedule for tomorrow."

Silence.

"Actually, I was going to go round to Yugi's and talk to him." Tristan said awkwardly.

"Oh." Duke was disheartened, but tried not to show it. "Well, do you want me and Joey to come with ya?"

"No, it's alright." Tristan said thoughtfully. "I doubt Yugi would want to talk in front of a big crowd. Nah, you Joey go ahead, I'll see if we can come and meet you later, okay?"

"Alright." Duke agreed. "Well, see ya tomorrow…"

"Hang on a minute!" Tristan's voice came down the line. "I think Mai's planning to talk to both Téa and Ryou… just so you know. You know what Mai's like."

"Yeah. Alright. Come and meet us later though, don't leave me alone with Joey."

Tristan laughed. "Will do. Want me to pass that onto Mai?"

"Please. See ya."

"Later."

Duke hung up, so Tristan followed suit, gazing at the wall thoughtfully before turning to face his company.
"I think he fell for it!" He grinned. "The plan is ready to go!"

Just then, Mai's mobile started ringing. "Shh!" She said, pulling it out her pocket. "Don't let him hear where I am!"

It was lucky Mai was so rarely at home, or Duke may not have rung her mobile…

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Joey and Duke were entering the park together, eyes peeled for their friends, when Duke's mobile began it's persistent ringing.

"Yo." He said, answering it. "Oh, hi. Yeah. Right. Okay. Oh. Oh dear. Yes. Right. Yeah. See ya then, then. Don't worry about it. No. No. Yeah. Bye." He hung up.

"What was that all about?" Joey asked curiously.

"It was Mai. She says they're gonna be late, apparently Téa's more upset then she deserves to be, considering what's she's done, and Tristan…" He sounded a little worried. "Well, seems to be having trouble locating either Yugi or Ryou."

"Do you reckon they came straight here?" Joey wondered aloud, shielding his eyes from the sun to look around the park.

"Maybe…" Duke shrugged. "Let's have a look around."

They did so, and eventually it paid off. They could just see the back of Ryou's head and Yugi's hair over an oddly placed hedge. No-one knew quite why it was there, but that's where it had always been. Many groups of teenagers, them included, had whiled away lazy summer afternoons making half-baked conspiracy theories. It was Ryou's that was currently in the lead, that it was an alien 'bug' disguised as a hedge to spy on humankind. After all, he had reasoned, what human would plant a hedge in such a strange place? And he had fully admitted to have read too many sci-fi novels.

That theory seemed unimportant now, or Yugi and Ryou wouldn't have been having what appeared to be a serious decision in front of it. And, unless Yugi managed to justify himself, days like that would never return. Duke ducked behind the hedge, gesturing for Joey to do the same. It was probably best for them not to interfere. But that didn't mean that they couldn't listen.

"I'm…so sorry." Yugi said quietly. "I'm not going to make excuses. There's nothing I can say, really. Besides, I don't understand why I did it."

"It's alright." Ryou said, after a moment's pause, surprising them all. "I think… this may actually turn out for the best… because it made me realise…or admit, I don't know… that I…"

Yugi waited patiently for Ryou to finish. Joey and Duke simultaneously got the feeling that they shouldn't be hearing this… but neither got up to leave.

"I don't think I like girls!" Ryou blurted suddenly. "That is…I mean…"

"You like boys." Yugi said calmly. How he could be so calm was anyone's guess, though, as Duke and Joey exchanged looks of horror and shock. They didn't have anything against gay people, as such… it was just unexpected. Though it would explain why Ryou never even flirted with those girls that followed him at school…

Ryou made a slightly embarrassed, non-committal noise.

"It's nothing to be embarresed about." Yugi said, after a long pause. "There's lots of people who… I mean, well, me to."

Ryou gave a surprised exclamation, which over the time they'd known him, they were beginning to suspect that it was some kind of English swear word. Then, Ryou laughed in an almost bitter way.

"It was Joey, wasn't it?" He demanded "I mean, the thought of liking guys never even crossed my mind until he came along…"

"Joey." Yugi confirmed.

Joey's eyes widened even more then they should have been capable of, and his hand flew to his mouth to stifle a curse. Duke, however, was beginning to get suspicious… Okay, if one in the group was gay, he'd buy it… but two? It didn't seem likely. Especially after all the time Yugi had liked Téa. In fact, now that he thought about it, the whole thing seemed rather fishy… For a start, he was way more attractive then Joey. And who knew what had gone on in that locker room? Ryou was way to 'proper' to make out with someone after spending an hour locked in a room with them!

Duke's thoughts continued in this fashion for quite a while, before he was unable to stop a slow smirk spreading across his face. If this was what he thought it was… It was good, oh yes, it was good. And Joey was too horrified to think about the situation. It was worth riding it out just to see his face.

He had to hand it to Ryou and Yugi, they were incredibly good at what they were doing. They seemed to be moving on to exactly what it was they supposedly liked about Joey.

"All that blond hair." Ryou sighed. "Why did he have to be blond…?"

"Mmm-hum." Yugi agreed. "And he's so gullible, it's cute."

"Yeah." Ryou nodded. "Does he really think we don't know he's behind that hedge with Duke?"

Busted.

Yugi laughed. "Plus he actually believed that we were gay! And that I two timed you with Téa!" (A/N: Thank goodness. They were beginning to scare me there…)

"And that we actually went out." Téa added, appearing seemingly from thin air. When Tristan and Mai joined them, they knew the game was up. Sheepishly, they stood up and walked around the hedge to join their friends.

"How much of that was a joke?" Joey asked slowly.

"All of it since we came out of that locker room." Téa giggled. "Are you mad at us, Joey?"

"Later." Joey replied, sighing. "Once the relief fades…"

"I have to hand it to you." Duke shrugged. "That was good. You had us going for quite a while there!"

"Does that mean your offer of free ice-cream is still open?" Ryou joked.

"Cheeky git…" Duke muttered "After what you just did… Oh, who am I kidding? Fine, ice-cream on me, everyone!"

There was a collective cheer, and they began to head towards the ice-cream kiosk when Duke said something else.

"Provided…" He said slowly, causing them all to stop in their tracks. "Next time anybody decides to change sexuality, I get a warning! Nearly gave me a heart attack…"

"And…" Ryou added "No-one tries to set anyone else up! Especially me… I'm happy with the girl friend I have, thank you very much!"

"Agreed!" Everyone yelled, resuming their journey towards the promised ice-cream.

It was only fifteen minutes later, half way down a strawberry cone, that someone finally thought to ask:

"Wait a minute, Ryou…What girl friend?"

This could be fun.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Please, hear me out." Millierie pleaded. Azreal said nothing, so she took it as permission to continue. "I just didn't want you to make the same mistakes I did…"

"What, end up with an illegitimate kid?" Azreal replied sarcastically. "Wow, thanks for the advice, mom."

"No." Millierie said gently. "You don't belong here. You were never to designed to have a job with so many rules. You were designed to live."

"Oh, glad to hear I don't have to top myself."

"You love him."

That surprised her. Azreal looked up in shock, but Millierie just smiled back sedately.

"Don't make my mistake. Az… look, I've hardly been a good mother. I haven't really been any kind of mother at all. But, look, let me do this one thing for you. Stop doing what she think you should do, do what you feel you should do… I mean… Look, go back to that Kaiba guy, alright? I have a feeling he needs you. Your father to. I have a feeling… that he'll be a better parent then me, Anna."

Azreal looked up, trying to comprehend what Millierie was saying to her. "But…"

"You don't want to be here, Azreal." Mother told daughter gently. "You never did. You just knew that you ought to."

Azreal looked at her mom for a while, the doubts showing, but then… Suddenly, she sprung forward and hugged her mom hard. Millierie held her for a while, vaguely thinking of how things could've, should've, been. But it was too late now. She pushed Azreal away.

"Now, go on." She said "Your sisters are waiting to see you off." Azreal nodded, scared to speak unless she started to cry again. She began to walk off, when Millierie called after her. "And, for goodness sake, don't screw this one up Azreal! You need him!"

"I won't!"

Millierie watched as her daughter left. Things could've been so different for her… but now, perhaps things would finally turn around for her.

"Goodbye, Azreal… good luck!"

That girl… she'd need all the luck in the world and then some to pull this off.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: I know, this isn't my best work... But join me tomorrow for the Epilouge and... the end of the fic!