Chapter Twelve
Valon's cry of alarm was absolutely heart-breaking. As soon as Alister tumbled off the roof's surface, the Australian lunged forward, desperately trying to grab him even though he knew he would fail. He stumbled, feeling the guard rail only being a minor obstacle in his way. For one frightening moment, Raphael was afraid that he would lose both of his friends. But then he managed to get his arms around the boy's waist, dragging him back. Valon yelled, but allowed this, as he was still reeling in shock. He slumped back against Raphael, the tears at last beginning to fall. "Alister . . . he . . . he's gonna die!" he choked out amid the strangled sobs. "That idiot! . . . He's dyin' because of us. . . ." He reached up, gripping at Raphael's arms so tightly that he nearly cut off the circulation. "We can't just let him fall! Are you crazy, Raph! We can't!" He was nearly in hysterics, so distraught was he over this turn of events. Alister had said not to grieve over him . . . but had he truly thought that would keep his friends from doing so? And how could they stand by and allow him to perish in this way? That was not right! None of this was right!
Raphael closed his eyes tightly, unable to bear the thought of watching Alister fall. He almost hoped that Alister was, indeed, already dead, so that he would not feel the pain of the impact. The man clutched at Valon as if the teenager was his last lifeline to sanity—which was actually the truth. If he lost Valon too, especially at this point, he would go mad. "Valon, I want to save him," he managed to say at last. "More than anything, I want to save him. . . . But there's nothing we can do. And . . . he's probably already . . ." He had to swallow before he could go on. "He's probably already dead anyway, from the electricity." But that still did not lessen the anguish he felt. He lowered his head, feeling Valon's fluffy hair brush against his face as he did so. Rarely had he felt as helpless as he did on this night. Alister had been suffering so greatly, the Orichalcos claiming his sanity at last . . . and then he had broken free, only to sacrifice himself to save the friends whom he had challenged to a life-and-death duel against his will. It just did not seem fair. Alister should not have died! No one should have. . . .
"He wanted to save us," Valon continued, shuddering again. "That's all he wanted! But . . . didn't he know that this'd cause us pain, Raph! DIDN'T HE KNOW!" His heart had also been rent in pieces. Valon was haunted by the last moments of Alister's life, and the hollow look in his eyes as he had surrendered the duel. The entire episode had obviously crushed Alister's spirit, though Valon did not blame him. But he simply wanted to have the redhead back, and to be able to tease and argue with him, just as it had always been. He felt guilt rising up anew at how badly strained their friendship had been at the last. I should've been more patient with him. . . . Heck, I knew that he wasn't trying to do anything wrong. How come I couldn't have been nicer when he was struggling so hard? It was only human for Valon to have been upset at the various things Alister had said and done (even though it had been against his will that he had said and done them), but that did not give the boy any comfort now. He felt that he should have been able to have handled the situations better. But patience during exasperating experiences had never been one of his strong points.
"Yes," Raphael struggled to say. Only several seconds had passed since Alister had fallen over the edge, though it seemed an eon. He had probably not hit the bottom yet. Oh! Raphael could not bear to think of it happening. "He knew, Valon. . . . But that's the irony of it . . . no matter which of us would die, there'd be someone mourning him. . . . It wouldn't be any different, no matter who it was. . . ." For they all loved each other as brothers, as Valon had said earlier. They had no one else, so they had formed strong ties with each other. Now one of those ties had been severed. "I wish in a way that I'd been taken over instead of Alister," he said, swallowing hard, "but that would've still caused you and Alister pain." And what if I hadn't been able to break free, as Alister did? He narrowed his eyes. No, they were all stronger than the Orichalcos. They all could, and had, defeated its evil before.
Valon continued to grip at his friend's thick arms. "Yeah," he said quietly in agreement, "you're right, Raph." He shuddered, a silent sob wracking his body. Either of them could have been the Orichalcos's victims instead of Alister, but it probably would not have changed the end results by much. Someone else might have then died instead of Alister, but the survivors would still be in heartache. What happened to one was felt by all three.
Abruptly there was a bright glow from Raphael's deck, nearly blinding him and Valon. Then Eatos was standing before them again, in all her splendor. She smiled sadly, laying a hand gently on Raphael's shoulder before spreading her wings and soaring off the edge of the building as the two friends stared at her in confusion, then understanding. She knew how much Raphael—and Valon—cared about the young man who was falling. She would rescue him. Even if he already was dead, there was no reason why his body had to be mutilated. That would only cause more pain for his friends. And anyway, she supposed that there was a possibility, however slight, that Alister was still alive. Carefully she flew down to where Alister was still falling, catching him gently in her arms. Electricity from the Orichalcos crackled off his skin, but she paid no heed. Once she was holding him securely, she went back up to the roof, where both Raphael and Valon were intently staring at her.
Slowly Raphael let go of Valon, shakily reaching out to accept the lifeless body of his other friend. A jolt of alarm passed through him at how limp Alister was. He shut his eyes tightly, choking back the scream of frustration and shock that he felt was coming to his lips. "Thank you," he whispered brokenly to Eatos. He was most certainly grateful to her for her efforts. The thought of Alister plummeting to the harsh concrete, after everything else that had happened, had been unbearable. Raphael had so acutely understood Valon's panic in almost jumping off the roof after the redhead, but that would have accomplished nothing. Then the both of them would surely have been lost. But he had felt torn upon retrieving Valon from the edge. He had wanted so badly to save them both—but he had known that he could not. And so he had been forced to let Alister fall in order to rescue Valon. "Thank you," he said again now to his guardian, sinking to his knees in despair. Gently he touched his fingers to Alister's neck, hoping for a pulse—but in vain.
Valon dropped down beside them. "Hey, Alister!" he cried, reaching to touch the young man's shoulder. A spark of electricity leaped up, startling the boy and causing him to draw back. He knew Alister could not have survived such an outrageous, painful series of blasts, but that had not stopped him from still hoping. . . . And yet he knew it was futile. Their friend, the other member of their surrogate family, was dead. He had sacrificed himself to save the ones he loved. You shouldn't have done this, you idiot! We could've found another way . . . somehow, we could've! But he knew that they likely could not have done so. Alister had done the only thing possible to save the other two, and Valon knew that Alister would not have wanted someone other than himself to die, if anyone had to.
Raphael, however, was doing more than simply hoping that Alister would still be alive. He was having a complete breakdown. He shook the body, gently at first but then harshly, his blue eyes flashing. "Wake up!" he yelled. Receiving no response, he screamed it again as he grabbed the slender man's shoulders. Raphael was frantic. It could not end this way! Alister had to revive. He only looked as though he was sleeping. And that, Raphael decided in his tortured mind, had to be the truth. He was only sleeping. . . . Or only unconscious, more likely. But he was not dead.
Valon gasped at this scene, feeling the ominous, dark sensation only increase. Raphael was going mad now. The blonde man, who had been able to remain strong and firm throughout the whole, treacherous experience, could not handle any more. And as Valon watched Raphael's continuing failed attempts to bring Alister back to life, the brunette suddenly became very certain that he was going to lose both of his friends tonight. He felt a wave of sickness pass over him. Was it not horrible enough to lose one friend to death? Valon did not want to see his other friend be lost due to insanity. He shuddered, remembering how he himself had once been in such denial in the past. Now he realized how Raphael must have felt, watching him during that time.
"Raph," he said in a strangled tone, "h-he's dead. . . . We both know it, Raph. . . . You've gotta accept it. . . ." He watched as several falling raindrops splashed down upon Alister's face and hands. The redhead had not even flinched at Raphael's rough treatment. Now his head fell back, the crimson bangs fluttering away from his forehead. "We watched him die!" Valon hated seeing Alister laying so limp and lifeless—and he hated seeing Raphael unable to control his emotions and his grief.
"He's not dead," Raphael growled, even though his common sense told him otherwise. "Can't you see he's just unconscious! We have to get him awake . . . we have to get him to the infirmary. . . . He's hurt. . . ." He cradled the body on his lap, feeling it become more slack. That's it . . . he's just hurt. . . . They can wake him up. . . . But he could not force his legs to allow him to rise when he attempted it. It was as if he could not even remember how to get up. His mind was a blank. I couldn't save Sonia and Julien . . . and I couldn't save Alister, either. But no one could have saved him. . . . He was such a fool!
"He's dead!" Valon screamed, feeling any self-control he had briefly possessed slipping away. "You can't bring him back, Raph! Heck, we'd both love to—but we can't! We just can't. . . ." He sniffled, angrily blinking back the tears. He was unsuccessful, however—they fell anyway, though the rain concealed them. "Look at him! HE'S DEAD! He killed himself! The Orichalcos killed him. . . ." And the memories of the past hours flooded his mind again until he was afraid that he, too, would be driven insane.
"SHUT UP!" Raphael screamed in response, but then regretted it when he saw Valon's taken aback expression. He did not want to be cruel towards Valon. They were both suffering. They had both lost a friend. He was not the only one in agony. Raphael took a deep breath. He would have to force himself to be the strong one again.
He looked down at Alister gloomily. The body was so limp. . . . Alister had always been an unusually lanky young man, but healthy. Now, however, he looked pale and weak. Raphael loosened his rough grip on the form, almost afraid that he would cause further damage—perhaps crushing the body in his heartbroken grasp. He knew Alister was dead. It was only that he hated to accept it. He felt as though he had failed. He should have been able to do more for him. I should have been able to save him. . . . He sighed deeply, struggling to speak.
"Valon . . . I . . . I'm sorry."
The Australian looked back up at the older man. He could see that Raphael, indeed, regretted verbally lashing out. It was obvious in the depths of his blue eyes, which were usually stern and hard. Now the orbs were filled with heartache and sorrow.
"It's okay, Raph," the boy said quietly, giving a faint shrug as he scooted over closer again. "I know you didn't mean it." He gave a sad sigh. "It's gonna be hard . . . not havin' Alister around. Not that I ever really used to think much about it . . . or even that I'd care. But . . . we've been through so much since Doom ended and all. . . . I mean . . . it's like we're a family." He slammed his fist down onto the roof. "And then that Hans bloke had to come in and wreck it! He's the one who did this! He poisoned Alister!" It was hard to control his immense loathing for the misguided young man. If Hans had not broken into their house and cut Alister with the Orichalcos stone, then Alister never would have fallen to the ancient evil's power and he would not be laying dead right now. It was Hans' fault. It was all his fault, and Valon did not see how he would forgive him.
Raphael shook his head sadly. "I know," he growled. "But in the end, Hans was also corrupted by the Orichalcos. He was like all of us once were." It was confusing—at the same time he also was despising Hans, Raphael was pitying him. The blonde man understood how Hans' feelings had been twisted, just as Alister's had been, but he still did not understand why Hans had targeted Raphael personally. And if he was going to do so, Raphael felt that the boy should have concentrated on doing damage to Raphael alone and not bringing harm to his friends. But of course, Hans had determined that it would hurt Raphael more for his friends to be hurt than for anything to happen to himself. It all disgusted Raphael. Still he wished he knew why Hans had held such a grudge for the Orichalcos to warp, but that would never be made known to him now. Hans had taken his secrets with him in death.
Valon clenched a fist. "Yeah. . . . But I can't help it, Raph. . . . I still hate him. I wouldn't blame anyone for hating us 'cause of what we did during Doom. It just . . . wasn't right." He looked down at Alister's lifeless body and then to the tattered bandage on the redhead's wrist as the gauze fell away. The wound was still raw and open, having never even begun to heal since the attack. Valon shuddered.
"I wouldn't blame them, either," Raphael agreed now. "But if you hate Hans when he was under the Orichalcos's spell, then it's only logical that you'd hate Alister, too, for the same reason. Alister fell prey to the Orichalcos, too." He held the empty shell closer, still longing for the younger man to make some kind of movement. This all felt so extremely wrong! Alister was not supposed to be dead. He was not supposed to have ever gotten possessed by the Orichalcos in the first place. If only Valon's parents had not returned . . . if only Doom Reborn had not risen up . . . if only Hans had not been so angry and not allowed the Orichalcos to bring out his dark side. . . .
Valon swallowed hard, Raphael's words piercing his soul. He knew it was true. They were all victims, even Hans. In other circumstances, they could have even become friends. But the way things were now, Valon did not think it would have ever been possible, even if Hans had survived. He did not answer Raphael, instead choosing to watch a drop of blood, flecked with green, fall to the ground from Alister's wound. Strange, how such a harmless-looking injury could be the cause of so much heartache. . . .
The brunette boy blinked as a very curious thing then happened—the wound glowed as several wisps of turquoise emerged from within it. Raphael stared too, his eyes widening as the strands exploded with color in the air. Once all traces of the mist were gone, the wound began to scab over. Though it had not healed at all for the past weeks, now it seemed to be mending all at once. It had been the Orichalcos that had prevented it in the past, but it was gone now and so the injury was free to heal.
"Hey," Valon spoke then in realization, "could it do that if Alister's kicked the bucket?" He leaned forward, not waiting for Raphael's answer, and instead tried once again to hope for some sort of response from the redhead. Gently he reached out, shaking Alister lightly on the shoulder. "Come on, mate, wake up!" he pleaded. But when Alister remained still, both Valon and Raphael sighed sadly.
"He's not coming back," Raphael said darkly, still not paying much attention to the light rain that was falling around and over them. Still, it was odd about the wound. Raphael had to admit that.
Abruptly Alister stirred, his eyes fluttering open as he shifted position in Raphael's arms. "Actually . . . I'd have to differ," he remarked quietly, his voice taking on a bit of a scratching effect as he struggled to speak. The color of his irises, Raphael and Valon quickly noted, was once again a soft gray. The Orichalcos was gone. Alister was free—and alive.
Raphael stared down at him in amazement, feeling a heavy burden being lifted from his shoulders even as he could not imagine that this was truly happening. How could Alister be alive? The blasts he had taken had been so cruel and harsh. And Raphael had not been able to find any signs of life when he had looked before. Maybe, he thought, he had not checked well enough. He shuddered when he recalled how desperately he had shook Alister's body. He supposed that somewhere in his mind he had believed Alister to be dead even when he had shaken him, for if he had thought his friend was truly alive, he would know that such an act could hurt him, even seriously. "Alister?" he choked out at last, having difficulty even saying the word.
"It's me," the younger man acknowledged with a weak, triumphant smile. He had fought the Orichalcos—and had come out victorious. He shifted again in Raphael's arms, trying to get comfortable and to manage to sit up. His body was aching from the amount of energy that the evil force had channeled into him upon his surrender of the duel, but that was alright. He was certain that he would feel better soon enough. Gingerly he raised his right arm, examining the wrist and discovering that the offending slice was rapidly healing. "They didn't want me yet."
Without warning the front of his tanktop was grabbed by Valon and Alister actually let out a surprised gasp as he was yanked toward the teenage boy. "You crazy bloke!" the Australian yelled, his eyes shining with happiness. "Of course they wouldn't want you, when you've been runnin' around raising heck and scaring people!" He did his best to look angry and upset, but he soon broke into a sincere grin as he regarded his revived friend. "But . . . we want ya, old chum. We want ya!" Valon remembered few occasions when he had been as happy and joyful as he felt now. He laughed, letting go of the material as Alister regained his deadpan expression. "You're okay. . . . You're really okay!"
Alister reached up, brushing the damp bangs out of his eyes. "I'm okay," he echoed, and meant it. He had conquered the darkness that had been awakened once more in his heart. And now that the Orichalcos was gone, his friends would be safe. He would no longer have to worry that he would suddenly turn violent and strike them in a fit of fury. They would have outside enemies—namely Doom Reborn and Valon's parents—but they themselves would not be enemies with each other.
Raphael had to smile slightly as he watched his two surrogate brothers interact. He leaned back, watching and still trying to completely comprehend what was playing out in front of his eyes. It was hard to understand, most especially after watching the poor man be electrocuted, but Alister had somehow been allowed to survive. He had fought valiantly to keep those he loved safe, and he had been rewarded with his own life when it had been a certain thing that he would lose it.
"And it wasn't enough that you had to get fried," Valon was saying now, "you had to fall off the roof, too! What? Do you figure you've gotta do everything?" He continued to rant, and his friends allowed him to. Valon had a strange way of showing affection towards the others, especially Alister, and they knew that was all he was doing now. He had been heartbroken when he thought Alister was dead, and now that he could see that his friend was alive, his happiness was coming out in unorthodox ways.
Alister frowned now, in confusion. "That's right," he remarked quietly. "I fell off the roof. I remember falling, but then someone caught me just as I lost consciousness." He looked around, as if hoping to find an explanation, and then caught sight of Eatos. Raphael's guardian had been sitting quietly beside him all this time, trying to offer her support and comfort, and now she smiled kindly at Alister. Then he knew.
"You're just lucky she did," Raphael said now. He looked to Eatos, thanking her once more, and then watched as she shimmered and vanished. She remained only as long as she was needed. Now that Alister was alright, she had disappeared from sight once again. But Raphael was certain that she was always watching over him, just as his parents and siblings were.
Alister nodded slowly, but did not speak. He was undoubtedly grateful to Eatos for rescuing him, but he did not feel that words would express that well enough. As he struggled to gather enough strength to get up off Raphael's lap, the blonde man laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't try to move too fast," he warned. "It might be a good idea to have one of Kaiba's medics look at you." He knew that Alister would not be fond of the idea, but he did not wish to take any chances on the redhead continuing to suffer from any unknown injuries that he might have sustained during the Orichalcos's assault.
Alister grunted. "I'm fine," he responded typically. "Besides, how could medical doctors solve any problem caused by the Orichalcos?"
Valon glared at him, grabbing his tanktop again. "You're not fine!" he shot back. "You almost got yourself killed when you gave up that duel to us!" He bit his lip, trembling as he recalled it. "We had to watch you dyin' . . . and know that we couldn't even help you!" He gripped tighter, again pulling Alister over to him. The redhead only looked at him calmly this time, much to Valon's frustration.
Raphael shook his head, prying Valon's fingers away from the cloth. "Don't hurt him," he growled, though he knew that Valon would not intentionally do so.
"I'm not gonna," the boy retorted.
"And while you do have a point about the medical doctors probably not being able to do anything, Alister," Raphael added, looking to the redhead, "it wouldn't hurt to find out. Hopefully you're not badly injured, but after taking such a harsh electric shock, I think it would be unwise to not try to do something about it."
Alister was not pleased with the idea, but he finally agreed—mostly to please his friends. He struggled to rise and ended up nearly slipping on the roof, as it was quickly collecting more and more rainwater. Raphael and Valon got up then as well, though they were still dazed from the harsh blows dealt to them during the duel, and forced Alister to let them help him inside by draping his arms over their shoulders. Alister was reluctant to comply, but even he realized that he was weary and in need of rest. He knew that his friends were as well, but they were adamant about assisting him.
"By the way," Raphael said gruffly as they made their way to the door, "you do deserve our forgiveness." He looked over at Valon and the boy nodded firmly. "And you've gotten it." Alister smiled slightly. He knew they meant it.