AN: Welcome my friends to chapter 40! Wow it's been forever since I started this fic and look how it's grown!
Today you'll be meeting two new characters, seeing as I'm running out of Yugioh characters to use, the cast of YugiohGX has agreed to be included in this fic as I see fit...right guys? aims sawed-off shotgun
Entire cast of GX: O.O;; all nod
Good, today we'll be meeting Cyrus and Jaden (american names, as I do not know the japanese. Not that it matters, I wont be using their names.)
Jaden & Cyrus: HEY! .
aims gun
Jaden: um...a new name sounds uh...great to me right Cy?
Cyrus: Absolutely...I...I really hated sounding Amish anyway...;;;
Good now that that's settled, you'll all know who the new characters are, when I describe them.
ON WITH THE FIC!
xoxoxoxoxo
Ryou moaned softly opening his eyes. The world was black...dark and dismal. "Wh-where..." he mumbled looking around. He could faintly hear Marik's voice.
"Be strong..."
Ryou blinked. "Marik?" He asked, turning and looking through the blackness. He shivered and hugged himself. It was eerie, trapped in this darkness, and he could faintly hear from all directions, the melodic laughter of women. "Hello?" He called out walking close to where he thought the sounds originated. "Hello? P-please...where is Marik?" he asked. The laughter seemed to peak, and taper off.
"Thirty minutes..."
The voices said at once. Ryou felt a chill rush up his spine. "Thirty minutes? U-until what?" he asked the blackness.
"Until all intwined fates are unwound...one by one."
Ryou blinked. Fates? "Wh-what do you mean?" He asked feeling the brushing of hands over his hair. What was going on?
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Eternity examined the small youth. "He's quite beautiful...I suppose it's logical that the sea and moon would squabble so over such a servant. The moon always did have some of the most beautiful servants..." she cooed softly, Ryou unable to hear their chattering.
Destiny nodded. "Indeed..." She commended offhandedly, helping Future unravel Ryou's fate, pulling the string taught between them. "look at this thread..." Future mumbled somberly. "Poseidon never could create mortals...the thread is frayed, the color fades and its kinked." she said as Eternity smoothed the string. "Yes...but beneath these tatters of thread, lies an inner thread..." She said softly, looking at the merboy as moments ticked by as though they were nothing.
"I must be careful sisters, when I cut this thread...I wish not to harm the moon's servant." Eternity said moving to the small basket on the floor, pulling a pair of sharpened scissors and testing them on a hair. "Ahh still as sharp as time itself..." she cooed, having pride in those scissors.
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Seto hurried into the hospital. "Ryou...is he ok?" He said panting as Mokuba watched worriedly, noticing Yugi and Ootogi.
"They're operating right now..." Marik said shaking his head. His stance was shaken, it was obvious he was beyond tolerable levels of stress. Seto nodded. "I'll pay for this..." he mumbled turning to the receptionist. "Have all charges for Ryou's visit here sent to Kaiba Corporation offices please." he instructed her, leaving Marik to tend to the two Merboys remaining, and Mokuba.
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Minutes ticked by, Ryou wandered the darkness, frightened, and slowly becoming weary. "Marik...Marik...I...I'm lost Marik..." he mewled softly, calling for his mate. "Where are you? Marik..." he called once again slowly sinking to his knees, his legs too tired from walking. "I...I have to be strong..." he mumbled shivering and looking at the choking darkness fearfully. "I will be strong for you Mairk..."
Meanwhile...
The doctors worked as Ryou slept, trying to relieve the pressure inside the youth's head, trying to save his life. Ryou's expression was one of immense pain, despite being sedated and asleep.
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Ryou groaned softly, his eyes closing in the dark, before he shook himself awake. "No...Marik said be strong..." he mumbled blinking his eyes open. "Marik..."
The fates finally had the string straight, tight and prepared. Eternity looked at Ryou and smiled softly.
"Sleep my dear...sleep and dream. Know that things aren't what they seem...this little death..." She said and sighed. "Is worth a thousand waking lives..."
Ryou closed his eyes slowly sinking to the floor and beginning to sleep, Eternity having cut away the binds of flesh, the string's outer frayed shell, peeling away.
Outside, the doctors were frantically trying to resuscitate Ryou. The boy had gasped sharply, and flatlined...
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Marik stood hopefully as the doctor exited. He sighed as both Marik and Seto seemed to swarm him, followed by Yugi, Ootogi and Mokuba. "I-is he ok?" Yugi asked hopefully, though he could tell something wasn't well...the air hung heavy. Ootogi bit his lip and hugged Yugi. 'I...think something is not well Yugi...' he thought softly, his emotions being shared by his mate.
The doctor sighed once more and lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry...Ryou died during the operation..." he hated telling familes...friends… the fates of their loved ones...but for every life saved...another was lost.
Marik stared blankly. "No..." he said shaking his head, tears flowing freely down his face, though he could hardly feel them. "No...Ryou he cant be dead..." Seto, though he held his pokerface, felt his heart wretch. He'd been too late...if he'd just kept Ryou near him...just...loved him despite being different.
Yugi's choked sob broke the eerie silence as he buried his face into Ootogi's shoulder, though the soft plinking of pearl against marble was heard. Marik's world was falling apart...his love...his dreams...his life. It was gone! Ryou had left him...he'd promised never to leave, not that he could have helped it.
Marik grit his teeth and nodded slightly, walking past to see his lover one last time. He peered in the now empty and silent room. "Ryou...I...why didn't you ever tell me you'd die? Why didn't...you stay with me...god I cant live without you..." he whispered leaning over the bed, tears dripping down onto his lover's still form. "I gave up everything I had for you...you were my life Ryou...my dreams..." he whispered burying his face in his hands.
"What...am I going to do without you?"
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Yugi and Ootogi came in after waiting a long time, to find Marik staring at Ryou somberly, gently brushing bangs from eyes that would never open again. "What...will happen to him now?" He asked softly.
Yugi frowned, sniffling softly and looked at his friend. "I'm glad...that you died happy Ryou...on the land you so loved..." he whispered a few shimmering tears dripping down his cheeks and falling onto the sheets covering Ryou's body from the underarms down. Ootogi nodded, shedding tears of his own, his own opaline pearls mingling with Yugi's. "May the gods take care of you..." they both mumbled bowing their heads. "From the sand...back to the sand and from the ocean back to the ocean."
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Cold...everything was cold...
Where was this? It was dark...so cold...
Ryou had so many thoughts swimming in his head...he couldn't discern real from fantasy.
Thoughts of things foreign, things familiar...though they seemed jumbled and confused.
Selene...the goddess of the moon...yes...he remembered that...and Poseidon...he sat up slowly, the dark was eternal, endless, yet it seemed to fade as he looked around. Pieces of puzzles long forgotten slowly fell into place.
"...Olympus..." he mumbled, the darkness having lightened, though barely. "I...I'm on Olympus...but I..." he held his head as memories slowly swam in his head. He was so confused.
"My name...what is my name..." he mumbled shaking his head. Was it Ryou? Was that it?
"Sweet little Twilight..." Selene cooed from the doorway, that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. "It's ok..."
Ryou blinked slowly. "Is...that who I am?" he asked confusedly. "I...I knew moments ago...but...I...I have forgotten..." he said looking down. Selene sighed. "The fates played an awful fate upon you..." She whispered sitting on the bed, the room slowly brightening until it was obvious this was a bedchamber. "Sweet little Twilight...I will tell you the stories you wish to know..."
Ryou nodded holding still as his hair was combed. "My little Twilight...you're the harmony of the night...you've always been my closest servant...do you remember the night my little Twilight?" Selene said softly. "You were born as an incarnation of my power...to aid me in bringing in the night...sending the darkness over the land..."
Ryou nodded dimly, closing his eyes and sighing as memories washed over his being as she spoke. He could remember...he would tend to the stallions that drew her chariot across the sky each dusk, watching as his godess, his mistress, Selene would blanket the earth in calming quiet darkness. He would free the firebirds each night, guiding them across the sky, laughing as they created the stars together...delighting in making designs and patterns. When his loving companions Meteor and Comet finally grew tired, he'd guide them home, before descending to the Earth below...the light of the moon following him and giving light to the dark world below. He would play in the fields and sing with the crickets, making the stars shimmer and dance to the sounds of his voice.
Selene nodded. "My little Twilight...hundreds of years flowed like that, unfearing, you would go to the Earth each dusk and light up my nights, all nights...your singing pleased all gods, your melodic voice reaching Olympus easily...your song ever changing, no night was the same as the last, no song the same as before..."
Ryou sighed softly. "I...I remember..." he breathed slowly. Selene nodded, continuing to tend to his soft flowing tendrils, his etheral form glowing softly, as moonbeams tended to. "Yes...and so it continued...centuries...You were such a sweet little impish thing...sometimes pranking naughty children out past their bedtimes." Ryou giggled softly, the melodic sounds tickling the ears of his mistress. "But...one night over a hundred years past...your journey to Earth was disasterous...Poseidon, the Sea god, whom the moon has always been on uneasy terms with, took you for his own..."
Ryou's eyes widened, the dark blue orbs shimmering with the stardust that seemed eternally trapped within. "I...I remember...he...I was in the meadow...I...I was entertaining the nymphs that night..." he said softly. "He sent a great sea beast from the ocean up the river that night...it was a horrible...a great tentacled beast...th-the likes of which...I had never seen..." Ryou murmured softly
Selene nodded, listening. "It...it grabbed me, the nymphs were screaming...some were even sobbing as it pulled me under the water." He shivered. "It was so cold...the darkness was unfriendly...I could not light it...despite my tries...I could not sing..."
Ryou put a hand to his throat. "The water burned my throat...when we reached his domain...he...he bade me to sing...but I couldn't...my throat...it was raw...I couldn't even speak..." he shook his head. "When I didn't obey his wishes...he..."
Selene hugged Ryou. "He imprisoned you within a female mermaid, creatures created for peace between us...the female later bore a child..." Ryou closed his eyes..that's what happened. "I...I was...alive?" he asked softly and shivered at the thought. Selene nodded. "You're the only child born of a god's powers...to have ever been born into flesh..." She said picking up his laurel crown, which glimmered with the featherdust of the firebirds, the small stars lighting the laurals.
Selene placed the small crown of laurals on Ryou and smiled softly. "B-but...if I have lived...h-how is it that...that I am allowed back to Olympus...?" he asked softly looking worried. "I...I have learned...I know emotions that...that are foriegn to me...I have...been." Selene shushed him.
"When you were killed by the fates, they met with Zeus and Hera, and presented your being to them. They agreed to allow you here, as Poseidon bribed Zeus...I'm sure he presented Hera with bribery as well..." she mumbled jealously. "I'll never hear the end of her bragging..."
Ryou blinked. "He...bribed a goddess? Oh my..." Ryou said wrinkling his nose slightly, blowing ethereal bangs from his eyes, the action making the room glimmer for a moment. It bothered him slightly...that things only made sense when Selene mentioned what had happened...that he could remember being born, but nothing of his life, nothing of dying. "Mistress Selene..." he questioned softly, the goddess turning for a moment.
"Do not think on it Twilight, bathe and talk amongst my other servants...they're all eager to see you again." she said softly, though firmly enough that Ryou knew better than to press the issue.
Ryou nodded quickly. "O-of course mistress..." he mewled.
Selene laughed softly. "Reacquaint yourself with everything...I'm sure being mortal has ruined some of your memories...and the way in which you were returned was no help...Those horrible fates are lucky they didn't destroy you." she grumbled towards the end, leaving Ryou to the bedchambers he sat in.
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It felt odd...everything felt odd. Having been mortal, Ryou had learned...had known shame. He felt so awkward amongst the other children of the moon, bathing together and laughing. He sat silently bathing in the milky waters.
"Twilight!" an amused voice said suddenly, causing the pale youth to jump. "Well if it isn't the fish I failed to catch!" he mused, chuckling. The boy had short brown hair, that had lighter patches on top, and slight freckles, and lively brown eyes. "It's good to see you back!" He chuckled, sitting next to Ryou, who blushed slightly and nodded squeaking. "H-hello Moonglade..." Ryou said softly, the boy leaning over and resting his head against Ryou's shoulder. "You're one tough cookie, you're the first time I ever lost the fishing game." He teased grinning. "Hey Eclipse!" he called, the diminuitive teal haired youth turning. "Ah! Twilight!" he squeaked and hurried over, adjusting his spectacles. "I didn't know you were back, it's so wonderful to see you've returned!" he grinned sitting on Ryou's other side.
Ryou blushed slightly and Moonglade smirked. "I heard you've been mortal, I bet you know all their naughty little secrets! You just have to tell us all the juicy stuff." he said chuckling and leaning back against the edge of the baths boredly. Eclipse blinked his steel-gray eyes in wonder. "He's been mortal? I hadn't heard that..."
Moonglade smirked. "That's because you're hardly around, you're Apollo's toadie just as much as Selene's, I honestly dont see why you follow him around." Eclipse frowned and crossed his arms. "I just believe that Apollo and Selene both are important in supporting the lives of all things below." he said matter of factly. "Besides, if it were not for me, they would surely run into eachother at the days of alignment."
Moonglade rolled his amber eyes calmly. "Yes yes Eclipse, you're the traffic director." Eclipse huffed slightly, but sighed. He always got the short end of the stick, as neither Selene nor Apollo called for him often enough to feel of true use.
Moonglade smirked and leaned close to Ryou. "I heard humans have such silly ideas..." he said chuckling. Ryou squirmed slightly, inching back. "Moonglade!" a firm voice shouted. Moonglade and Eclipse gasped and nodded backing away from Ryou. Ryou blinked and turned. "A-ah! Eros..." he breathed, looking down immediatly. Eros smiled slightly, one amber eye giving Ryou an amused look, the other covered with golden cloth.
"You two little impish things, stop teasing Twilight." Both young servants nodded laughing when another water fight was initiated by the servants of other gods. Ryou blushed and pulled himself from the bath, hugging himself nervously. Eros shook his head, and pulled his pale hair from his eyes. "I see...so you know...Twilight...shame is not something you need feel." He said softly, wrapping an arm around Ryou's shoulders, and leading him from the baths.
"Twilight, you're beautiful, there are no ugly bodies on Olympus...well...unless you count old Hephaestus..." Eros breathed calmly, kissing Ryou on the forehead, sending shivers up the pale youth's spine.
"D-dare...dare I say th-that the son of Aphrodite would think all b-bodies beautiful?" Ryou mumbled softly.
Eros laughed slightly. "Except Hephaestus..." Ryou giggled and shook his head.
"He'd have your head if he heard you saying that..."
AN: LOOOOONG. as for the one note made.
1 Eros is played by Pegasus, if you couldn't guess.
Mally-chan: ok, note to all, Hato and I got into a long arguement over who drew the sun chariot. Apollo or Helios, despite our argument, we both found SEVERAL sources saying that Apollo was the charioteer AND Helios was sunchariot driverdude, so, in light of refusing a Sailormoon reminder (We all want to forget that...) I used Apollo. Besides, he's just cooler. sticks tongue out at Hato chiisai
