#51 - Scar
Chosen
Segment Notes: In the game Over the Nexus, Radley very curiously has possession of the Crystal Beasts and Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder. Now, I'm sure the game isn't following anime canon and is thinking more in terms of just general TCG information, but it's impossible for me to look at it and not wonder how to make it fit in light of anime canon. This is my attempt for Hamon (with a reminder of what I've already done with the Crystal Beasts in the past). Radley also discusses things that happened in my fic One Ring to Rule Them All. I'm not too familiar with GX canon and have only been able to rely on the Wiki, so I'm not sure if I'm telling the Sacred Beasts story right.
Kalin stirred, looking sleepily down at his friend. They had dozed off on the couch again and Radley was resting peacefully in Kalin's arms, one hand on Kalin's chest as he laid his head against Kalin's shoulder.
It was strange, how much Kalin had come to appreciate physical contact and even love it. Radley had always enjoyed it, but Kalin had mostly shied away for some time. It had been almost losing Radley in the Duel Monsters world that had changed his mind. Lawton's evil scheme would have likely killed all of them if Radley hadn't sacrificed himself to take Lawton down and destroy his Blast Spheres. Kalin had been so devastated and shattered holding Radley's lifeless body when it was all over. Radley had wanted to hug, to touch Kalin's shoulder, and so often Kalin had been uncomfortable with that. And then he had been laying dead in Kalin's arms and couldn't touch him ever again.
Once Radley's life had been restored to him, Kalin had wanted to hold him, to hug him, to fully embrace having him back. He had never been able to handle loss well. Now he no longer cared about literally keeping his loved ones at arm's length out of pride. He wanted to be fully in the moment.
Radley stirred, moving his arm slightly. He had taken off his jacket and his arms were bare with his tank top underneath. When the light hit his skin just right, the faint scar on his right arm was visible. He had another on his left arm, a longer one. He never talked about them and Kalin never asked, but he often wondered what had happened. Apparently poor Radley had been getting badly hurt even before they had met.
Kalin could never be grateful enough that he had been able to get through to Radley and save him in the past, when Radley had been drowning in despair in the mines. Radley had become such a dear friend and confidante and they had bonded so closely by now. Kalin couldn't imagine life without him, nor did he even want to think about it. They had already had too many close calls. Kalin just wanted them to be happy now.
He leaned down, quietly kissing Radley on top of his head.
Radley stirred, blinking sleepily at Kalin. "Hey," he mumbled.
"Hello," Kalin said.
Radley sat up, the light from their lamp touching on the scar across his left arm. Kalin couldn't help looking at it, and Radley caught him looking.
"I never did tell you about this, did I?" Radley mused.
"No," Kalin said. "Or the one on your right arm."
"That was just from learning to ride a motorcycle," Radley said. "Not that interesting. This other one, though, oh brother." He leaned back against Kalin. "I got sliced by a Valkyrie's sword trying to protect a prissy businessman."
"What?" Kalin raised an eyebrow.
Radley laughed. "I didn't tell you in the past because it sounded so loco, but I figured by now you'd believe it, even though it still sounds crazy."
"I believe it," Kalin agreed. "But how?!"
"It was when I got sent back to the past and first met our friends from back there," Radley said. "These modern Vikings were trying to destroy the world and they'd corrupted Brunhilde, the lead Valkyrie. She turned on her master, Siegfried von Schroeder, and I just happened to be close enough to grab him and pull him out of the way. But the sword got me instead."
Kalin stiffened. He reached out, running a finger along the length of the scar. "How bad was it?"
"Not that bad," Radley smiled. "Once it was bandaged up, I still had almost full use of my arm. No one even noticed it was hurt when I got back."
"When did you get back?" Kalin pressed.
". . . The night before I met you," Radley confessed.
As he had known, Kalin's eyes darkened. He hadn't noticed either, and that bothered him now that he wasn't suffering from depression and self-hatred and he and Radley were so close.
"That's also why I didn't tell you before," Radley admitted. "But Kalin, you've got nothing to feel bad about. The Bunch didn't notice either, even with how much they adore me."
"You'd make sure to keep it from them," Kalin said. "You wouldn't want them to worry about you. But I should have been more observant."
"You had no reason to be," Radley said. "We just had a business relationship back then."
Kalin sighed and leaned back, still holding onto Radley. That was true, of course. ". . . I'm glad it wasn't serious," he said at last.
"Me too," Radley said. "I kinda like my arm."
Kalin managed a smirk. Radley always liked to keep things cheery for the Bunch. He tried to do the same for Kalin. Because of him, and the Bunch, Kalin had definitely started to learn how to laugh again.
Radley reached over, setting his jacket farther along on the couch arm. As he did, his deck started to slip out of the pocket. When he reached to grab it, some of the cards spilled out anyway. Kalin moved to help gather them and froze, staring in disbelief at the one he was holding.
"What is it?" Radley blinked. He looked. "Oh, Hamon? Yeah, that's one of my ace cards. It works well with Crystal Beasts."
Kalin shook his head. "It's one of the Sacred Beasts," he said, stunned.
"I thought that was mostly old legend by now," Radley remarked.
Kalin slumped back into the couch. "When I was a Dark Signer, Roman Goodwin told us about the Sacred Beasts, dark counterparts of the Egyptian God cards. He wanted to get them for us, both so we'd have added power and to keep them out of the hands of anyone who might try to use them against us. I was assigned to find Hamon, but I never did. And you have it. . . ."
"Yeah," Radley said softly. "I told you about Pegasus bringing me the last of the Crystal Beasts in person, didn't I?"
"Yes," Kalin nodded. "He'd reprinted them and these new ones chose you after not getting along with anyone else."
"I didn't tell the other part of the story," Radley admitted. "I wasn't sure I believed it at first, and then later, when I knew you'd been a Dark Signer, I didn't wanna bring it up and give you any bad memories.
"When Pegasus brought me the Crystal Beast, he also told me about the Dark Signers looking for the Sacred Beasts. Zero Reverse had woke them up and they were restless. Pegasus was afraid they might actually call out to the Dark Signers, so he wanted to relocate them to pacify them. He'd been moving them from place to place, but it hadn't helped much, and they'd been growing more restless ever since the Dark Signers showed up. He wondered if they'd calm down with people qualified to wield them."
Kalin frowned. "Part of the legend was that they'd bring chaos and destruction if they were kept from their resting place."
"Yeah, but since they didn't wanna rest anymore, it seemed like things had changed," Radley said wryly. "When the Crystal Beasts responded to me, Pegasus took a chance and had me try to use Hamon too. Hamon also responded to me and he left it in my care. He didn't think the Dark Signers would ever find it with me. And . . . they didn't."
Kalin handed the card back to Radley, a bit shaken. "Thank God I didn't," he said. "If I had . . . you would have suffered at my hands. . . ."
"Or Hamon would have hurt you," Radley said softly. He put the deck back in his jacket pocket and zipped it up.
"Do you know who has the other cards?" Kalin asked.
"I don't," Radley said. "Pegasus said it was safer for the wielders to not know about each other. That way, if one got caught, they couldn't tell about the others."
"That makes sense," Kalin admitted. ". . . I remember now that when you were talking to Lawton in the Duel Monsters world, you told him Hamon wasn't your only ace card. I was so upset about Lawton forcing you to sacrifice yourself that I completely forgot that until now." He shook his head. "I've known you're special ever since my mind cleared, but I didn't realize that even chaotic Duel Monsters respect you."
"I don't know if I'm to have Hamon permanently or not," Radley admitted. "But Pegasus hasn't asked for it back and I'm just as happy with that. The card accepts me, so I'm glad to be able to use it."
"So you believe it's alive now?" Kalin asked.
"I've felt energy from it and the Crystal Beasts," Radley said. "It's always positive. They like me."
"Of course they do," Kalin smirked. "What's not to like?"
Radley chuckled and settled down again. "What about your cards?" he wondered. "Do you sense anything from them?"
"I do," Kalin said. "I'm amazed they still want me after I grossly misused them as a Dark Signer."
"I suppose the card spirits sense our hearts," Radley mused. "They love us in spite of whatever mistakes we make, as long as they know our true selves are good. Which is the same with people too."
"You're an amazing person, Radley," Kalin said. "To be able to see goodness in me after everything I did to personally hurt you. . . ." He shook his head. "I still have trouble seeing goodness in me sometimes."
"You were never deliberately trying to hurt me," Radley said softly.
"I know," Kalin conceded.
They rested in silence for a few minutes.
". . . It's late," Radley finally remarked. "You wanna go to bed?"
"In a while," Kalin said.
But sleep overcame them both much sooner than that, and they sank deep into the couch and against each other as the night wore on. They were together, and hence, both at peace. And as they slept, the spirits of their cards came out, watching over them through the night.
