OMG You're reviews were AWESOME! I was feeling a bit down but as soon as I read all those supporting reviews (26! Authoress faints), I was like 'You better keep writing'! So here I am!
I would just like to say to reviewer Joou of A Hikari Girl Equals Chaos that although I've decided to accept your criticism as not being a flame as you have said…I don't think that leaves you the right to judge me if you don't KNOW me. I am not an overzealous fangirl; I like other things, play sports, and although I deeply appreciate the art…I am NOT obsessed with it (and really so what if I was?)…I do understand that Yami is not REAL, or else I would probably be in a mental institution…My writing has NOT affected my social and mental health if as proof I have friends (to the point where one friend outside of my school even quaintly dubbed me Tomoyo, worldly friend…but that's besides the point) Even I admit that AHGEC was a bit sketchy, but I'll look back on it years later fondly instead of painfully, and learn from it because every authoress must start somewhere. As for my intelligence, I think my IQ is alright currently (I scraped into Honors, yay!) But if that is what you think then fine, I accept it. I'll keep your review as a reminder to myself to write more realistically, and maybe it wouldn't hurt if you were a tad nicer. Nonetheless, thank you for taking the time to read my story, and if you feel the need to do the same again to this story I am STRONGLY advising you to listen to my suggestions above.
(sigh) That review was disheartening to read during a writers' block, but ah well, I hope I didn't sound bitter.
Moving on now…Every chapter has a purpose (me like a couple chapters ago: they do!) and this one's is to further the plot…dramticness (word?) will come next chapter. Rising actions and interesting twists…this one.
Important A/N! Please let it be noted that Sakina the Fallen Angel, an awesome poet and songwriter, wrote the song "Electric Scream" that is used (with her permission) in the second-half of this chapter.
Enjoy my "overzealous" fanficiness plz!
"Mmmf Foomi Mmmm Hah Hooo!" were the first incoherent words out of a raven-haired hikari girl who had her mouth stuffed with toast as she scrambled to zip her luggage which was fit to bursting. A hikari girl who was also very very late. And starting to go slowly insane.
"Nina, calm down! They're just next door!" said an anxious Mr. Sky as he tried to placate his worked up daughter. No use.
"BUH HA MMMMF HAYYYYY!" whined Nina whose bulging cheeks now resembled a chipmunk's.
"But that's no excuse for you to not eat breakfast…properly. Swallow Nina, and sit down; I'm sure the Sanchez's can wait." Mr. Sky replied sternly. It was amazing that he could even translate the bizarre language that is food talk. But then again heis a guy.
((You look like a fat chipmunk.))
Why did Nina get the impression that Bakura was enjoying her anxiety? Oh yeah, she could hear his annoying laughter ringing in her mind. Being a hikari sucked.
"Yeah well you look like a freshly baked muffin." Nina retorted to Bakura only to find that she had said her thought aloud. Great, now Adam and her Dad were looking at her like she was psychotic.
"Munchkin, who were you talking to?" Adam asked curiously.
Awkward? Totally.
"Uhhhh…the blueberry muffins?" Nina said as she dug into a muffin over-enthusiastically.
"Sureeeeee," Adam said as he gave his Dad the look. His Dad exchanged the look with his look. The look that read 'I told you, you shouldn'tve dropped her on her head…But did you listen? Nooooo.'
Nina rolled her eyes and dearly wished she could force Bakura to appear. But Bakura still was doing that infuriating chuckle. Darn him.
This was NOT a good start but it would get better, right? Stay optimistic, Nina.
Then the luggage split and her clothes as well as herself lay in disarray on the floor.
Okay, that was bad but the glass was still half full.
And then the coffee spilled. On her clothes.
She could already hear Bakura's taunting laughter echoing in her mind as he rolled around his Soul door clutching his ribs in hysterical laughter.
Screw optimism.
Did she mention that being a hikari sucked?
Little did she know that just a house away, someone else was thinking the same…
Carla Sanchez was having one of those days. You know those days when everything and everyone is negative and pisses you off. Blame it on her personality, blame it on PMS, blame it on post Exam stress, but personally Carla blamed it on a certain Yami and the unexpected arrival of an Aunt. Especially the Aunt.
"Good morning Carla! All packed are we?" said an over-cheery Yami as he woke up refreshed from a nap. Carla bit her lip; stay calm, Carla, stay calm.
"Yes," she said curtly with a clear tone that said 'Buzz off'. Of course, Yami didn't take the hint.
"Hmmm, you forgot your toothbrush though. And your hairbrush. And that pretty skirt (wink). Oh, and those flip flops that you can't live without…" Yami blabbered on oblivious to a slowly boiling Carla.
It's not his fault, it's not his fault that she's here…He doesn't mean to be stupid.
"And your makeup, we wouldn't want to be without that would we?"
(TT) Count sheep, Carla thought to herself furiously as she got her stuffed baby sheep. Yes, sheep are cute, fuzzy, and not at all stupid. She was in control; she could keep her temper in check. One sheep, two sheep-
"And your 'unmentionables'…aka that hot red silk bra I saw you wear on Valentine's Day-"
That was the last straw for Carla. The little stuffed sheep was literally exploding at the seams from her death grip. She had just heard that her dearly…insane Aunt Marie was now going to spend spring break with her beloved nieta.
Nieta her a-
This was the Aunt who went on bizarre travels and brought back items that she did NOT want and were hazardous to her, um, LIFE. Examples: the creepy voodoo dolls she swore to God were alive and evil, the "healing" herbal potion from the barbaric, formerly cannibal Amazonians…and the Millennium Puzzle.
Don't get Carla wrong, she loved Yami with all her heart but there were times (see Valentines Bra incident) when she dearly wished he wasn't always constantly with her and no one was allowed to see him…
So it was a boiling red Carla who turned to her victim Yami with murder gleaming in her eyes, "Shut. UP. Yami."
Mistaking her flaming red face for embarrassment Yami continued soothingly, "Don't worry Carla you looked hot in them,"
And then he saw the decapitated fluffy sheep doll. With Carla's twitching hands holding the final seams. O.o.
Yami felt like that sheep.
"Carla, let's be reasonable. Tell me what's wrong and we'll work it out together-"
"CALLARSE IDIOTO! TU SABES LO QUE HELL ME HA PUESTO POR? (Shut up, idiot. Do you know what hell you've put me through?) NO! SHE'S BACK! WITH LA DIABLA! AND SHE'S BRINGING KILLER! AND YOU KNOW WHAT MR. OBVIOUS, SHE'S SUSPICIOUS! NOOOOOOOOOO!" Carla said talking in Spanglish as she became so riled up her emotions clouding her speech. She ended her final words in a despairing wail.
"You don't mean-"
"Yes."
"We're screwed." Yami concluded as he began to make preparations for Eccentric Aunt Protection Spells (EAPS).
"We're screwed! You can disappear! I can't; I have to-"
Suddenly the door burst open, and out came the plump woman herself, Aunt Marietta.
The timing was simply impeccable.
Carla was caught in mid-action. Her face still flushed, her arms raised to strangle Yami. And Yami had vanished but not without making a noisy exit by knocking over the wooden chair.
For a moment there was silence; Aunt Marie eyes switched from a too-cheery, flushed Carla to the chair that had just been knocked over from apparently nothing. She scrutinized Carla's face for a lie. Carla smiled innocently as she crossed her fingers behind her back.
"What were you doing?" she asked as she looked deep into Carla's dark brown eyes for a blink, a hesitation.
"Oh just working out you know…jumping jacks, pushups, sit-ups, the usual…those workouts can really leave you tired!" Carla said with exaggerated enthusiasm as she wiped her brow. Aunt Marie gave her one last suspicious look before saying in her thickly accented, unconvinced voice, "If you say so chica,". In an effort to drag the attention away from herself, Carla gulped down her pride and said in a choked voice, "Where's Killer, and my dear cousin Teresa?" She was afraid to ask. Killer was Aunt Marie's poodle. Poodle, you might laugh, what's so scary about a wee little poodle? Obviously you've never had to feed a territorial one or give it a haircut. Then things got ugly. (Aunt Marie refused to declaw her black evil fluff ball…damn her…)
So PLEASE, Aunt Marie, she begged of her Aunt: say gone to Antarctica!
"Oh, they're right downstairs. They'll be coming on the trip with us with your little friend. Teresa's dying to play with you, and you get to give Killer a haircut!" Aunt Marie squealed with a hinting voice as if the above mentioned were the grand prizes Carla had just won on Jeopardy. And if these were the prizes, Carla felt extremely ripped off.
(sigh) So much for Antarctica. Playing? tch, more like torture. If she had to play another round of tea party talking to inanimate objects…then she'd stab herself with that sheep. Granted the death would take a while due to the plushiness, but with creativity she'd do it.
"Carlita, why are you staring at that sheep?" Aunt Marie said uncertainly at her niece's unnerving stare.
"Oh nothing tia, just thinking what a lovely time I'm going to have with my favorite cousin and my favorite poodle," Carla gushed while mentally pounding her head against her soul door wailing 'Why me!'
"Good. Vamos. (Let's get going) And I almost forgot: here's the present I got from Peru for you while we were looking for the Fountain of Youth!"
Carla knew this was going to happen…she was just hoping that the 'present' got lost in customs. Fat chance of that happening. A glowing Aunt handed her a blue stuffed parcel that had been tied with a string of coarse llama hair.
Carla warily opened the blue parcel like an atomic bomb. She half-expected it to explode and the house's fire sirens start to go off.
Code blue, code blue! This is the logic reporting to the brain; DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL!
But the memo came too late; Carla apprehensively peeked inside and saw…
White powdery glitter dust!
"Errr thanks Tia…it's pretty dust…" Carla said with a false smile.
"No, not dust, azuca!" Azuca? She loved azuca! Azuca meant-
"SUGAR! THANK YOU AUNT MARIE!" said a happy Carla, all insults aside.
"Yes, well it was funny…we looked on the map and in the exact spot where the Fountain of Youth was supposed to be…was this small grove of sugar canes…Funny, no?" said Aunt Marie with a wave of her hand as she majestically went down the stairs.
"Sure whatever Tia...OMG we're two hours late already!" said a distracted Carla as she just threw the rest of her clothes in her blue duffel bag and went downstairs.
/So you forgive me…querida?/ Yami used his silky, super sexy voice. That was a low blow right there because both he and Carla knew she couldn't resist it when used it especially when he called her his special Spanish nickname for her: querida. The first Spanish word he ever learned that meant dear, and it had shared a special history between the two young lovers. And damnit it made her melt each time no matter how hard she tried to stand firm to her sulk.
But still Querida played hard to get as she made an exaggerated gesture of thinking,
Hmmmm…
/Please Carla I didn't know she was here! You have to give me the benefit of a doubt/
Oh, okay…But you're still need to learn some tact Yami.
Yami was almost in the homestretch...
/Tact? I have plenty of it! I mean that bra looked awesome/
Until he got pegged at home plate. He was so close too...darn stupidity.
Carla rubbed her temples and muttered mentally 'bastardo estupido…' (a/n: no translation necessary)
10 minutes later…
Nina stood with her colossal luggage in front of her as she tried her hardest to stuff it into the back of the Sanchez's Lexus.
(((Bakura, some help here…))) Nina hinted.
((Sure, look over to your right))
(((Promise you aren't lying?)))
((Cross my heart and hope to die…)) said a sarcastic Bakura.
Ignoring the sarcasm, Nina took it as a yes and turned around to her right…
And ran right into Aunt Marie's large bosom.
((Little fool did I mention I AM ALREADY DEAD!))
Oh yeah. Oops.
"Oh it's youuuu!" cooed Aunt Marie as she wrapped her arms around a flaming red Nina.
"Mmmmf morrie."
"Oh, but you're so thin! Not to worry I'll fatten you up in no time!" continued Aunt Marie as she finally released a gasping (from lack of air) Nina. Aunt Marie pinched Nina's cheeks and pointed to the two figures behind her, "This is my angelic daughterTeresa and her perro Killer. They'll be staying with your little gatito! Oh, they'll have such a ball together!"
The 'ball' in question was in fact a growling Killer and a hissing encaged Elf glaring daggers at each other. Meanwhile the supposedly "angelic"Teresa gave Nina a smirk that on any person less cute would've been categorized as the evil sadistic grin of Satan.
"See, she's smiling just for you!" Aunt Marie gushed. Teresa's ESG turned into a heartwarming, adorable smile. Before leaving Aunt Marie patted her daughters head fondly, "Have a fun timeTeresa and Nina!"
Teresa's evil smirk was back as soon as her Mom was out of the proximity. The spawn of Satan said in a very un-angelic, deep, intimidating voice "You. WILL. PLAY. DOLLS WITH ME. (Nina looks at the bipolar adorable girl with shock; Teresa's black glittering eyes narrowed) Now…we can do this the easy way…or the hard way (ESG grows wider)…You got that Heeha?"
"Ummm…it's Nina." Nina proffered tentatively.
"No, it's Heeha like the mule, right?"Teresa growled looking at Nina as if she were the dumbest thing on Earth. Killer, the black poodle in her arms, bared his teeth at his mistress for back-up. A sweating Nina gulped; was it just her, or were those teeth- no fangs- a LOT sharper than the average poodle? Even Elf gave a meek mew.
"Of course, silly me; my name IS Heeha," said the newly dubbed Heeha. Teresa's face lit up once more into an irresistibly cute smile as the poodle Killer gave one last warning click against his unbelievable canines.
"Oh, Teresa, isn't that your Mom calling?" asked Carla as she rescued Nina out of an entangling situation. She had her red duffel bag across one shoulder though if one looked closely enough you would see that 60 percentof its mass was standing on its own (where a poor Yami was holding it up with a groan).
Teresagave Carla a clear stay-out-of-this glare but Carla returned it with her own.Teresa finally broke away from the staring contest and left with her nose upturned as her pigtails gave a resounding thump against Yami's shin. Yami couldn't stifle a groan of pain as the magical, red, 60 percent, floating duffel teetered dangerously.Teresa eyed the invisible space where Yami was warily before continuing,
"'Gi up then Heeha (Nina winces at the new nickname). As for you cousin Carla…(dramatic Terminatorlike pause)…I'll be back." She then stepped on Yami's shoe. Hard.
It took all of Yami's will power not to give Teresa's tempting pig tails a good yank.
"Good lord I hope not," Nina replied then as an after thought, "No offense Carla but your cousin is a bit…"
"Eccentric? Crazy? The spawn of Satan?"
"Well, I don't mean to be rude but uh, she's no Mother Theresa."
"I know. She is eeeeevvvvilll. Talk to my voodoo dolls and you'll see why I nicknamed her La Diabla."
"Um, Carla dolls can't talk…" Nina said as if Carla were a slow toddler. Carla made a demanding snap to Yami who subtly put Carla's duffel bag into the trunk gratefully. That task done, the impulsive hikari girl then wrapped an arm around Nina comically. "Obviously you know nothing of my Aunt. Poor you." Carla said with exaggerated gestures. Nina laughed it off, not knowing how she would soon be experiencing one of Aunt Marie's gifts…
/Carla what are you going to do with all that sugar that your Aunt gave you/ Yami looked uneasily at the blue packet peeking out of a pocket in Carla's jean satchel.
'Eat it, of course.' Carla looked up at Yami like he was mental.
/The whole huge packet? It's pure Aunt-Marie-delivered sugar, you know./ Yami was growing more nervous by the second.
'Duh. What else would I do, Yami?'
Yami's eyes grew blank as he recollected a memory from long ago…
Flashback (when Yugi was Yami's hikari)
"WHEEE!" yelled a sugar-high Yugi as he swung from the air fan that was ON. Yami looked on in an unabashed fascination as he saw the effects of sugar for the first time (in the exact same fashion in which one looks at a carcrash: you don't want to look, but you just can't help yourself).
"Yugi, didn't your Grandpa hide the sugar packets from you?" Yami asked to the tri-colored blur up above.
"Uh, no-o-o-o-o-o-o!" a cherubic Yugi hollered back in time of each circle the air fan completed. Oh, dear, thought Yami as Yugi gave an Olympic flip off the air fan right into the sink which was full to the brim with water and soap. And started overflowing. Like a tidal wave. With a once-innocent, quiet Yugi riding the wave on his soap bar surfboard. Definitely time to call the humane society. Well, until the wet, starfish boy ran into the wall taking the phone cord with him. Great, now he had a mentally unstable AND sugar high hikari. Ah well, he was hoping it wouldn't come down to this.
"Here, Yugi, yugi! You see this chocolate chip cookie! C'mere and take the cookie!" Yami cooed. Yugi looked at Yami for a moment, losing his deliriously insane smile with a 'You have got to be kidding me. I'm not that stupid' look. Yami suddenly lost his cooing face giving out a wave of flattery and reassurance with a face that looked very peeved. Yugi thought he was kidding, well ha.
Bring it on.
1 minute later…
Yami sat on top of a duck-taped Yugi on the carpet as he lazily flicked through an issue of Duelist Weekly.
"Mmmmhhhhhhmmmmm…ASTAR! Heh mmmf Hah-hole!" Yugi shouted muffled obscenities through his bounds as he squirmed futilely below the heavy weight of the Pharaoh. Yami flipped to the next page where the latest must-buy cards were shown.
"Now, now Yugi it's only temporary. I'll release you as soon as you calm down from your errr eccentricities." He said calmly.
Yugi spit out the gnawed duck tape long enough to mutter, "Bastard," in response to Yami's calm outlook on the situation. With a deft flick Yami picked up the duck tape once more. He gave a weary sigh: this just showed that sugar could turn even the best of people into monsters who gave unnecessary retorts to their poor victim Yamis.
What he didn't know was that Yugi had already gnawed through the majority of his bonds. And had pink hair dye. And had locked the door.
You do the math.
End Flashback
He was going to need some duck tape. Pronto.
"Soo…who wants to play 'go fish'?" Carla asked breaking the silence as the two visible teen girls in the back of the car (hidden behind all the stuffed luggage) sat as the loaded car made its way to the little town of Orangeville. She had to decided to ignore Yami's blank dazed murmuring of "Duck tape. Need duck tape." in her mind because there were some things in Yami's mind that she just did NOT want to know about.
"I will whoop the pharaoh's ass in this game- it is dangerous, right mortal?" said the newly two-toned spiked Bakura.
"Not exactly…" said a brown-haired Yami with a wolfish grin as he snapped out of his flashback stupor. "If you win, I'll give you full access to a much-needed new wardrobe."
"Do you own leather?"
"Yes." Yami said (with an annoyed Carla in the background).
And that settled it.
"You're on." A female Bakura said as they began to play the hazardous game of go fish. Mortals beware.
Two hours later in the remote area known as Orangeville (population 100) on the horseback riding trail…
The hikaris had finally arrived at Orangeville and were tacked up and ready to go on their two horses. Well except one.
"Um, Carla I know you're experienced but I've never ridden before and horses…uh freak me out…No offense Buttercup." Nina said to a snorting fat yellow dun pony. Carla was already half-way out the door on the feisty black stallion she had rented out, Diablo.
"Oh, not to worry Nina. I've been coming here since I was five. The horses are incredibly sweet and will do just about anything you ask. I even got you the most mellow one in the bunch, Buttercup. If she can gallop it'll be a first I swear," Carla said jokingly. Nina looked over at Diablo nervously. The high-strung thoroughbred flung his head up and down as he stomped the ground in impatience. Not a good picture for a nervous beginner to see to say the least. Nina gulped; the horses suddenly seemed like evil fiend monsters from hell in the dimmed sunlit barn. Buttercup playfully nipped Nina's tank top, but to Nina it seemed like the Devil himself were calling her to his realm of damnation. Double gulp.
((Over-dramatic little wimp.)) said an annoyed Bakura who listened to his interrupting hikari's thoughts.
(((Excuse me. I'd like you to try)))
((Fine. I will.))
"What! I meant that sarcastically Bakura!" Nina said completely bewildered by Bakura's odd compliance. Bakura appeared in a black leather trench coat under a white cotton shirt (which had a lace up in the top that showed a nice bit of perfect, smooth chest) with loose blue jeans. Guess who won the game of 'Go Fish'. Sure enough Yami's head appeared behind Carla's on Diablo and he gave Bakura a hateful glare. Bakura smirked back and blew Yami a mocking kiss. (Yami: TT stupid fish)
Nina looked at Bakura's cupped hands at the base of the stirrups in the same way she looked at her algebra teacher: bewildered. Bakura rolled his russet eyes and said in a gruffly slow mocking voice, "You, the stupid hikari. Will use my hands to jump into the saddle. Do. You. Understand? Or. Are. You. Too. Slow?"
"Hmph, I understand completely," Nina said, ticked off by Bakura's condescending attitude. Bakura chuckled softly knowing fully that she had not a clue. Nina chose to ignore it and used one leg to boost herself into the saddle from Bakura's calloused hands.
Oomf! She landed hard; that was expected. But what she didn't expect was a sudden light weight in front of her as she fumbled with the foreign reigns.
"Bakura!" Nina gasped instinctively as she felt a pair of ghostly pale hands firmly secure the reigns from her clumsy ones. Yup, it was him in his pleasantly warm,buff six-packedglory. Nina blushed when she felt his cool white locks tickle her ear as she hesitantly wrapped her arms as lightly as possible around his muscled waist. They were much too close for comfort.
"Yes, brat?" Bakura asked politely as he nudged Buttercup with his newly sneakered feet into a walk. He ignored the shy hands around him.
"Uhhh…why are you here?" Nina said stupefied at having a hot Bakura not only in front of her, but actually helping her.
"Do you know how to trot?" came the brusque voice.
"No, what's a trot?"
"Do you know what's a girth?"
"No."
"Do you know how to post trot and the correct diagonal that comes with either direction"
"No, but, couldn't I at least be in front-"
"And do you know that to canter you use your outside leg to urge the horse?"
"No."
"My point exactly." Bakura said and ended it. He clucked the horse to trot, and as the odd pair caught up to Carla, she hid a snigger with a hand. Yami on the other hand was catcalling the pair until Carla 'accidentally' elbowed him in the stomach.
"But Bakura," Nina continued, still shocked by the astounding turn of events. "I thought you hated me."
"Oh, don't worry wench. I despise your goody goodiness with a passion, but I haven't been outside let alone on a horse in five millennia. Allow me my moment. Other than that I would enjoy seeing you land flat on your butt." Bakura said gruffly as he used his outside leg to canter in front of the pharaoh and his hikari. Somehow, Nina didn't think he was telling the whole truth but meh, who was she to argue? When she felt the rocking canter she immediately gasped in joy and surprise as she accidentally tightened her hold on Bakura's chest. And promptly found herself looking at the whizzing ground. Nina muttered softly at the hands holding her in this position, "Bipolar git."
"Wench."
Buttercup gave a small snort that could be roughly translated into "Stupid hormonal humans." But who are we to know? When Nina squeaked in fear as Bakura spurred the pony to a light gallop, his not sending her earthward as she buried her face into his warm shoulder…might've been a complete accident.
"You know I think those two might actually like each other," Carla commentated from afar on Diablo. Yami snorted.
"Those two? Tch, they're complete opposites." Yami said unconvinced. Sweet little Nina with a cold egoistical former tomb robber? Ludicrous.
"And opposites attract Yami." Carla said sagely. She continued on, seeing another snort coming from behind her (hey, she was more experienced), "You know when I was little I used to play a game with my sister. We'd play those stupid good and evil games. The funny thing was I always liked to play the evil villain because I guess that was how my rebellious bad side got to escape. So you see every person has to have a bad side to them; maybe Bakura is just complementing the good Nina…" Yami had already tuned her blabbering out until she heard her say her last words. "And I chose such an over-dramatic, stupid name for my villain self. I used to think it was so cool: Mistress, ha! Sounds like a French maid. Funny, huh?"
But Yami wasn't laughing.
"What'd you call yourself?" he said harshly stopping the horse with an abrupt jerk on the reigns. Carla was mystified by Yami's unexpected reaction.
"I said Mistress. Stupid name I know but no need to stop Diablo-"
"Carla I never want you to call yourself that again. Do you hear me!" Yami demanded, his crimson eyes blazing with a fury Carla rarely saw.
"Yes, Yami, but it's just a name." Carla said meekly.
"It's a stupid name!" Yami roared, effectively ruining the mood. Thenightmare prophecycouldn't come true. It would never come true, he chanted to himself as he saw his hikari's hurt expression. It was for her own good, he reassured himself. She would NEVER be Mistress.
It's also a good thing then that he hadn't heard Carla's words before she mentioned the name: "It's silly I know, but I was always fond of my villain half. Evil always felt so liberating…"
A female spirit cackled as she made arrangements. She would make it come true. She whispered very softly into Yami's ear, "Prophecies always come true."
Yami dearly hoped it was the wind.
The BeachFinally there, the overall tension managed to leak away. The glittering blue ocean and the stark white sand calmed the teenagers despite the thunder clouds looming over them threateningly.
The taste of the wind is changing
There's a susurration in the air
I'm chained to the clouds
I can feel the fire burning through my hair.
Well, until it was time to strip. (a/n: get your minds out of the gutters!)
There was a nervous pause as all of the magically enhanced teenagers looked at each other for guidance as to who would do it first.
It was Carla who spoke up first, "Well, let's get down to our bathing suits and stop gaping at each other like fish!" She hastily tore off her white tank top while Nina followed suit with the only tank top she owned in blue.
For the two hormonal Yamis, it seemed as thought they were listening to "I'm too sexy" as Carla now revealed a bold red bikini with (hootchie mama Yami noted with glee) shorts that showed off curves that Carla always fought to hide. Even Bakura spared her a good glance before moving over to Nina…
Wow.
Bakura's eyes bulged. (As well as Yami's before Carla thwacked him on the head)
Whatever Nina lacked in curves she made up for in sheer beauty. She looked at Bakura self-consciously in her simple navy blue bikini as she tucked an ebony strand of hair. She was an ethereal princess, too beautiful for this world.
"Is that drool Bakura?" Nina asked curiously as she saw puddles of drool from both Yamis (well Yami's was coming from ogling Carla but that's not the point).
Have you ever had one of those dreams where you're taking a test you haven't studied for?…Well Bakura was having one of those moments. Nina was not supposed to be hot. A good little geek definitely, but not beautiful.
"Ah…errrr…" Focus, Bakura, focus. But all he could see was her pale skin contrasting against the dark bathing suit with those long, slender legs attached…
"Ngh…" he continued incoherently with his eye half-lidded as Nina looked at him while she fought to suppress a smile.
"What are looking at Bakura?" Nina asked slyly although she knew perfectly well what he was staring at. But if he kept looking at her any longer she'd give him a good slap.
Bakura was gazing so hard at her that soon he saw what few have ever gotten the chance to see on Nina Sky. (a/n: HENTAI! NOT THAT!)
A pale white scar ran down from her left shoulder diagonally towards her lower right shoulder. The slash curved dangerously downward into Nina's cleavage before swooping up at the last second from her bikini top to land an inch below her armpit. It looked like it had been there for many years and the gash must have been very deep to last on her skin so long.
So of course Bakura blabbered the first thing on his mind.
"Scar." He squawked intelligently. Nina immediately blushed and this time it had nothing to do with how she felt on her looks.
'Stupid, stupid! You should've remembered and worn a T-shirt or something to cover it!' Nina thought furiously to herself as she muttered an "Oh, it's nothing really," offhandedly.
But a curious Bakura, taking the chance to wipe the drool out of the corner of his mouth, walked over as he squinted his eyes. "Who did it?" he asked simply.
Funny how just three words can leave you blown away. She had expected a snide remark, a smirk, some all-knowing, infuriating 'You're so weak brat that you can't even defend yourself! I told you you were weak.' Anything to reaffirm his arrogance.
Instead she got a simple question with something like concern in Bakura's eyes as he actually tore his perverted eyes away from her legs. Odd.
Of course she was flustered. An alien had abducted Bakura and left her a nice clone. Yes, that was the only explanation. "H-how'd you know?"
Bakura raised his eyebrows condescendingly at Nina, "I'm not stupid brat. I hardly think you decided to hurt yourself as a toddler in a cutter's revenge."
Nina blinked a lot as she fumbled for a lie to tell Bakura. Somehow, Nina never wanted to tell Bakura the real story; Bakura would never understand.
He'd probably even done it himself a few times.
She didn't see resentment flash in Bakura's eyes for the briefest of moments.
"Oh then I guess I was a stupid child then. Ha ha ha. Darn cooking appliances." Nina said jokingly with too much blinking involved. Still, she'd thought Bakura would at least somewhat accept it knowing that he liked to point out her lack of intelligence, or wouldn't care. So as he took off the trench coat and unbuttoned the oxford shirt (much to Nina's secret delight), she thought nothing was up.
But when a quiet Bakura turned around and started walking off, his beautiful, ethereal white spiky hair billowing in the wind as his flapping oxford shirt revealedhis Greek God perfect, well-toned chest.
He paused for a moment and murmured softly, seemingly to the air, "You know, you're a horrible liar."
And left a stunned Nina alone in the sand. Somehow, she'd always secretly felt better than Bakura in the sense of her goodness. But as she heard the resigned, almost hurt note in Bakura's voice, she felt lower than a flea.
Heck, even a flea would've tried harder to hide its thoughts.
You'd better get indoors,
Watch out! And beware,
Run for the hills!
Too late! You're
Caught in his storm unaware!
"Okay, I'll just tie the horses to the boardwalk, untack them, and be back in a second!" said Carla as she started to go.
It was costing a lot of Nina's courage to do what she did next, but she had to follow friend protocol. And friend protocol stated that one did not leave your friend to do something alone with offering to come along. Even if horses freaked you out.
"Carla, can I can come too and help?" Nina asked hesitantly. Carla smiled hugely, touched by Nina's thoughtfulness despite an obvious horse-phobia.
"No, that's alright. I know you and horses aren't exactly buddies. Go, into the water. I'll only take five minutes or so." Carla said, shooing Nina off with a kind yet firm grin.
"But-"
"But nothing. Go. You better hurry though," Carla continued as she looked at the ominous clouds above them rumbling. "Swim before it starts pouring. I'm so sorry I chose such a bad day for us to come see the beach but the weatherman said it would be clear skies. Oh, if you see any lightning you better run out: they are big trouble…" Carla trailed off realizing that Nina was long gone. Oh well, she got the gist: Nina would know that lightning was big trouble.
"Ah, but lightning is the least of your troubles little girl…" whispered a feminine voice in Carla's voice. Carla shivered; God, she didn't know bees could buzz so loudly and humanlike. But her blood drained out of her face as she heard what the "bee" said next, "Little girl I'd be suspicious…Pharaohs hold large harems…" the chilling voice hinted. Carla stood there, trying to remember what exactly a harem was and before it could hit her the "bee" grew impatient, "Yami. LOVES. ME. NOT. YOU. You got that, bitch?"
"Oh,"
And then Carla's face grew stark white despite her tan.
Because one, she finally realized what a harem meant and it didn't mean gold…oh-ho no; it meant wives. TT.
Because two, Carla remembered that bees cannot talk nor insult.
And because three, well Carla narrowly avoided being struck by lightning. And a shocked Carla was pretty sure that evil maniac laughter in the background was not a side effect of seeing lightning.
Nor was being able to see your boyfriend being kissed by another woman in the lightning.
Crackling energy tears through my lies,
Electric dream, a power scream,
As ten thousand volts of blue lightning blaze through my eyes
It's shocking! You're electrified!
Nina was splashing in the soothing lukewarm water joyfully as she glanced up at the dark sky every now and then. She'd only been to the sea once before and that was when she was 3 so this was a welcome experience. She made yet another motion to Yami and Bakura. Yami was dreaming some pleasurable dream (by the groans…Nina did NOT want to know) while Bakura merely gave her a sullen grunt.
(((C'mon Bakura!)))
((Wench, do I look like the type to splash in water WITH YOU?))
(((You know surprisingly I like brat better than wench)))
((Well, wench seems to suit you.))
Burn.
Nina sighed heavily and returned to lazily floating in the water alone. Soon, she forgot about Bakura or the thunderclouds or anything else for that matter. The water was so comforting and calming that Nina soon closed her and felt her body lulled by the gentle waves. She was so sleepy…that she didn't even feel the raindrop hit her nose.
Hypnotic lullaby rocks you asleep,
Ahhh…she could stay here all day.
But as Nina slipped further and further into dreamland she felt something odd. The gentle waves that lapped over her legs every now and then were starting to land dangerously close to her mouth.
Sending you to your knife sharp dreams,
No, "landing" waves would not be the correct phrase. Crashing was more like it. The waves were crashing against her ear, the gentle hum turned in to a raging roar. The furious drum of the waves trying to engulf her sent Nina up, her tiptoes barely brushing the sand bottom. Unfortunately, as Nina had been enjoying her little doze she had drifted way too far from the boys. She could barely even make out land. Wonderful.
Outside, the tribal drums of the rain beat on,
"BAKURA! YAMI! CARLA! SOMEONE!" she yelled futilely into the rain. She was now soaking wet as she gave out another yell: (((BAKURA!))). No answer. Nina sighed; she'd just have to swim to land and hope she could make it. She turned around and glanced hopelessly at the sky for a sign sent from above that there might be hope that she'd make it without trouble. She didn't see the towering, tsunami-like wave behind her.
WHAM.
No hope.
Dancing to Death, and his relentless song.
Bakura had been lying on the warm sand as the rhythmic pounding of the waves soothed his troubled mind. 'Hmph troubled?' he thought, 'The only one troubled is that perverted pharaoh over there.' Stupid hikari who still was so utterly clueless about him (he should be happy about that, right?)…He subconsciously skimmed the ocean for her; it had started to rain, not like he cared about her or anything. Hmmm, no Nina.
Where WAS that brat?
(((BAKURA!))) he heard a sharp, desperate scream in his mind. This immediately sprung Bakura to his feet and to the ocean where high tide and a storm were taking its toll on a once-peaceful ocean. Nina! The monstrous waves were hiding her if she was indeed in trouble as her voice revealed. Wait…why would he care! The ignorant fool deserved whatever trouble she was in. But nonetheless in his mind's eye, he saw azure, understanding eyes with tears in them as he hurled her and shattered a spirit…And more recently, a slash across her shoulders marring her as she gave that endearing blush across her cheeks. Hmph. Endearing. Yeah right.
In the end a confused Bakura decided this: he would see if the brat was okay…and then kill her for making him worry- or as he corrected his blundering mind, wasting his time.
He used his trained chocolate eyes to search every square inch of ocean to find the brat. His eyes searched quicker as he could feel the agitation emanating from her. As his dark eyes darted left: aha, there she was! So far from the shore that Bakura actually had to squint to see her drenched, pale figure. How the heck did she drift that far away! And not see that the water was getting rough! She seemed to be unaware of his distant presence as he ran into the ocean, his feet tickled by the cool water as Bakura pulled up his jeans to his knees. And then he saw something that made his blood run cold.
"Nina! You FOOL: get out of there! Can't you see that monsoon wave!" he yelled but Nina who still wiping her eyes against the rain to see, was caught unaware of the impending danger. And a second later was struck down, as if later Bakura would recall, Hades's fist of fury had decided to listen to Bakura and finish the girl off in one horrible punch.
This should've gladden Bakura, right? No more annoying
Wrong. He felt a sharp pang of worry hit his heart. Because a paralyzed Bakura knew that few could've survived a blow like that. She was like the beautiful greek mythology princess who was chained to the rocks to be sacrificed to the sea monster: beautiful yet doomed.
Because no one had cared to save her.
Chain me to the Heavens
Sacrifice me to the stars,
Bind me with your lightning
Before the Sun declares war.
Nina had never experienced the unique feeling of kissing the sand, um, literally. Nor did she ever want to again. For anyone wondering being slammed into the shell-littered sand by an enormous three foot wave of Hell, HURT. But unfortunately for the villains, she was not dead, just merely bruised and battered as her darn ankle felt sprained from a particularly large, sharp seashell. She broke the water's surface gasping, thankful to be alive. Her throat was burning from all the saltwater she had just now swallowed but she nonetheless gasped happily as she saw a sight that a couple days before would've sent her quaking. Now it sent a whoop of joy, "Bakura!"
Bare-chested and in only his jeans folded at his knees, Bakura yelled back from across the shore "BRAT! What were you thinking!" Ah, insulting your hikari in a yelling voice is a true expression of concern. Well, at least for a disgruntled tomb robber who lacked normal social skills.
Nina smiled back at Bakura knowing that deep down he was concerned.
((Am not. Concerned! Tch, swim back and I'll show you some 'concern'))
Did she mention that right before insults and yells, threats were simply the ultimate form of caring. Really, they should make a Hallmark card on it.
(((Glad to see you care Bakura))) Nina gave a sweet, infuriating smile at Bakura.
Which leads us to our fourth item on the list of expressions of true, Hallmark-worthy concern: cursing your drenched hikari girl to hell.
Up in the sky, on top of a thundercloud, (all covered with meatballs…okay jk) two other spirits were also expressing their colorful language regarding Ms. Sky.
"The bitch was supposed to be DEAD," yelled a gruff male voice.
"Yes, well, I had to summon a storm to make it seem natural, and controlling a thunderstorm is harder than you think dumbass." The woman "companion" muttered in reply as she wiped a sweat-soaked brow. The grizzled man snorted as the woman murmured incantations from under her breath as her eyes were glued to her fat spell book of dark arts.
"Amateur." He said in a voice loud enough to be heard. The woman's gloomy eyes that matched the dark sky glared daggers back at the damned male soul.
"Well, if you think you're so good Mr. High-and-Mighty, why don't you do it yourself?" she retorted scathingly. She knew that the inferior bimbo was totally clueless in the mysterious, complex world of magic. Well, so she thought.
"Gimme," he said simply as he grabbed the book of dark arts greedily. It had been so long, too long…It had simply been torture watching this novice sloppily do her work. Now, well, now he had an excuse to do it. He'd been provoked, he'd say, if Hades ever came after him. But he'd most likely be locked up in a convenient black hole if he ever returned to power. No not if, the man reminded himself with a wicked grin, when.
"Don't even try fool. I highly doubt you can even read the ancient text let alone understand the intricate details-"
"Silentium." He interrupted, effectively shutting up the slender, annoyed woman as if she'd been duck taped with one of his favorite spells, the shutting-up spell.
Too bad she wasn't a completely stupid novice.
"MMmmf You-you dumbass-" She was starting to break the hold of the spell.
"Think of something original, dearie," the man replied absently to the spelled woman as he flicked to his favorite section in the spell book of dark arts: torture.
"MmmmMMh! You want original! YOU JACK-"
"Ah, ah, ah," the man punctuated each 'ah' with a wave of his index finger as he strengthened the spell on the indignant woman. "Just call me gifted, but I've always been fascinated with the dark arts." He said with a wink. Perhaps somewhere deep down, past the large part in the woman's mind where she was the center of the universe and was inconquerable…she knew that there was more than what met the eye to the supposed bimbo. He was handling the book as if he'd read it all before. But that was a very small part of her brain. She had more important things to worry about: like her precious mouth gettting bruised by the spell if he strengthened it.
The man ignoring the obscenities the woman managed to shout as she sat subdued for the moment while trying to break his spell, concentrated on finding the spell he was looking for. Well, more like torture hex, but spell sounded more refined. He flicked past a version of the Iron Maiden, past the frozen spells, past the how-to-ensure-a-bloodcurdling-scream-in-30-seconds-or-less spells, and finally- Ah, there it was: one of his favorite spells. The woman inched over and gave a furtive glance at the spell the gruff man was practically drooling over. And then even she raised her eyebrows in surprise: that was one deadly spell. She had to give the man some respect: he knew how to pick a spell that would cause even the strongest willed to crumble.
Because this was a spell that no one could avoid. (Hey, her attempt had almost made it, and it had at least enlightened the naïve girl of her hopeless situation)
And it was 100 effective.
The girl was as good as dead. No better. No one in recorded history had ever survived it once it made its mark.
Slowly, despite misgivings about the man before her, an evil grin crept up her lips that would send shivers up even the toughest of souls.
But it was nothing compared to the man's. His was maniac. His was sadistic. His was not like a demon's- it was a demon's grin of pure, unchecked, Hell-spurred, Grade A evil.
But not even mere words could describe the intense look in his eyes as he glanced down at one particularly drenched hikari girl. The naive would've described it as eager. The more cynic would have said it as a hateful glare.
But for the ones who could truly see it for what it was (and it was only the man himself who could)…
His dark eyes held revenge and an utter hate for the girl in front of him that went beyond the imagination of mortals. The wicked, satisfied laugh that erupted from his throat should be an indication of what the eyes were full of: a long-awaited revenge.
But for what?
Ah, this was simple.
Her death.
"I told you I'd be back," he whispered tauntingly to the raven-haired girl below as he moved his finger over the line that read the horrible spell. It was only two words but nonetheless deadly efficient. His grisly face twisted into a demented, sick smirk as he could hardly wait to hear her final scream sing to him. He pointed a finger at the girl and as he did it Nina Sky's fate was officially sealed.
She was doomed.
"Electra Shocka."
Thousand needles pierce my skull,
Drumming with the rain, driving me insane,
I scream to the sky, parched thirst insatiable
I gulp precious elixir through my electric pain.
(A/N: You know I strongly considered ending it here, but that would be too evil, wouldn't it? Though it would've made a nice cliffie)
A lot can happen in a moment. You can be kissed in a moment, sent flying in the air, or even in one particular case, swimming to your irritated Yami. Nina paused for a moment to take a rest (it was a LONG swim to shore) as she stood up on the soft sand bar. The water was still up to her waist but it was nonetheless a nice break from the fathomless depth of the ocean where she had no clue of what lay beneath her.
"And why are you stopping, brat!" yelled Bakura from across the sea. Another wave could come sweeping over and beat her down if she wasn't careful. Of course Bakura didn't say that aloud. "You are so stupid! Baka, you're in the water in the middle of a THUNDERSTORM!"
Nina smiled patiently at Bakura's (rather cute) antics of hidden concern as she tucked her slick dripping wet tendrils of hair behind her ear. She was going to be FRIZZY for a week at this rate. She hid a chuckle beneath one pale hand as Bakura began to imitate a bull as he gave long frustrated snorts of disapproval as he stomped the ground at his hikari's ignorance. She knew there was lightning but paddling to shore for TWO FRIGGIN MILES would tire out even the best swimmers. And Nina promised herself that as soon as she got back to land, she'd go on the treadmill no matter what her thighs protested.
She panted heavily for a minute or two before shooing off Bakura's protests with an "Don't worry (pant) I'm hurrying (pant) as fast as I (pant) can! I'll be okay, I promise!" She reassured Bakura with her quirky grin. But it was all in vain. Because Nina was not going to be okay.
Because in a moment Nina would be dead.
She should've been worried of what lay above her, not beneath her. Because she never saw the beautiful, deadly golden ray of lightning fork in the air towards her.
And by the time she did, it was too late.
Head thrown back, a knife in the ribs
Two words. BLOODY. HELL.
Another shock jolts me awake.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Nina shrieked to the heavens as her eyes started to roll backwards against the pain. It was intolerable; no human can last against a lightning strike. Espescially when you're already a welcome lightning rod with dripping wet mass. It felt like thousands of hot knives were piercing every inch of her body as white hot pain filled every part of her. In that one moment she felt delirious with her eyes clouded with her blood vessels probably popping. In that one moment she welcomed Death. The pitch of her scream had risen to the decibel beyond human ears as her body arched as she clutched her head while she wailed desperately in her mind 'Make it stop Bakura! Do anything: just make it STOP!'. The pain was so fierce that she couldn't hear Bakura's desperate shouts at her so he could take over, but she blocked him out.
Like a lightning rod, my body jerks blue
As a power surge flows through my restraint.
She could see nothing, hear nothing, speak nothing...She was a puppet to lightning's strings. All she could do was raise her weary head painfully in command to a hidden force. In that one moment when she tuned the world out and gazed dazedly up at the sky…she saw a sight that she'd made sure she'd never see again.
It was probably only in her approaching unconsciousness that she saw him at all. Yes, it was just an illusion smirking down at her as she died.
Nonetheless, she struggled to curse his name but her voice was too choked, too weak. The one thing she was thankful for was that Death clouded her view of him. At least her last sight would not be his awful, greedy face. Instead she thought she saw a white blurred guardian angel in the distance as her half-lidded eyes started to close. It was a beautiful sight; Nina finally smiled peacefully.
And then the world went black as she sank into blessed, blessed oblivion.
Eyes closed against the pain, my body arches skyward
It is unwise to stop and stare,
Sharp teeth flash for I am the chosen one
Sometimes Life isn't fair.
I'm such a sucker for dramatics; I love it! I hope you all are satisfied with this EIGHTEEN PAGE CHAPTER! Phew, that was hard to write and I hope it's a success! Poor Nina: how will she make it? Is she even alive? Who was the beautiful angel? (Heck, you probably all know!)
Notes: Meh, I know it sounds weird to bring your cat when you're traveling but Elf plays an important role later on…Also the querida nickname (I think that's a cute sexy nickname!) will have significance soon…
Oh, and next chapter will be called Seduction (think to what Carla saw and Yami's err dream) so PLEASE if anyone knows any good songs or poems that relate to the chapter (ex: you know like a toxic/impossible-to-stay-away-even-though-I-should sorta thing) LET ME KNOW and I'll dedicate the chapter to you (though I'm not sure you'll want to after you read it…so I'm not sure if that's a fair prize but ah well)!
On a personal note, I just started reading Fruits Basket and I LOVED it even though I wasn't sure if Yuki was a guy or a girl at first (blush)!
Also THANK YOU (in order of who reviewed first): Asaake, panmotto, ann, firecat1991, Mrs. Bakura, Rose Goddess of the Dead, I'm a maniac, AnimeLoverJ, Everlyn Chan, The Incredible Emo Kid, animekiTie, Maistwin, Dreammistress Jade, LightAngelSara DarkAngelSara, AngelWings10, TheRhythmOfLife, Chibes, EternityCode, soccerchic91588, DON'T HAVE, Ashi, and priestessdwelling82 FOR FOR YOUR ENCOURAGING/ODD/CUTE/SLIGHTLY THREATENING/WONDERFUL REVIEWS THIS CHAPTER! (AND HOPEFULLY NEXT!) I LOVE YOU ALL:D (hands out imaginary Bakura and Nina and Yami and Carla plushies to slightly freaked out reviewers!)
Your reviews make the chapters come faster!
So I'll end it with this: I'M BA-ACK! Mwahahaha! (lower) MWAHAHAHA! (there.)
-(wink) Starlet36 (oh yeah my penname has nothing to do with the show; I WAS HERE FIRST!)