Happy New Year Everyone! Kicking it off with the next chapter of Timaeus! I wanted to wait a few days between chapters before posting it.
ONLY ONE LEFT! (dies)
Disclaimer: I own the plot, story, take on characters and take on setting and not much else
Chapter LXXII: Thalia
They walked down the path for several minutes until they came to point where it branched out into several different directions. Following Téa's sure-footedness, they hiked down the forked path without hesitation. Grassy hills like emerald dunes dotted with wildflowers flaked either side before opening into a wide, sandy expanse of golden beach.
Even though it was approaching the late evening, the day was still lovely. The air was soft and warm, and the water would edge by the wildflowers perfuming the air, then ebb back, revealing a stretch of empty beach.
Yugi raced ahead, abandoning caution in his excitement, and hurried to take off his slippers. The sand felt soft and powdery beneath his feet, and further down, it would cool and harden as the sea pulled away from the shore; it was nowhere near as hot as it was in the desert, he thought. He edged closer and closer to the shoreline until the cold waters were teasing his toes. He nearly shrieked with delight, but instead closed his eyes and spread his arms out like great wings; he inhaled the perfume of salt and seaweed and relished the breeze on his skin.
He stared out over the never-ending stretch of white sand, then the wide, open waters surrounding it. Deepest blue and green mingled with the bright cerulean of the sky at the horizon where, further out, the island rings were indiscernible in the fading lights like silhouettes of a distant mirage.
"This place is gorgeous, Téa!" Yugi spun back to his friend, bright-eyed like an excited child.
Téa watched him with sisterly amusement and joined him by the water. "I take it you like the beach?" she smiled.
"Very much!" Yugi cheered just as a large wave rolled up the shore—and with it, a flood of white-topped water. Yugi jumped back and Téa was on her feet in an instant, but neither of them moved in time to dodge the water that lapped at the hems of their garments. They shrieked from the cold, then laughed before moving down the coast and plopping onto a dryer patch of beach.
"It's very different from the river," Yugi said, "but I like it very much."
"Aye. It's always fun experiencing something new," Téa agreed.
"I've been trying a lot of new things today," he said, though something about it sounded sad.
Téa spared him a glance and caught him looking away with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"I can imagine," she said sweetly, reaching her hand out to hold his. "It can be overwhelming doing it all at once." Yugi looked up and met her smile. He peered out hopefully at the water.
Another idea came to her mind. "You know," she said, undoing the wrap around her waist, "I think I'd fancy a swim."
They squealed when the cold water hit their skin, their thin shifts doing little to keep out the ocean's icy chill. It didn't stop them from diving into the next wave, nor splashing each other vigorously until another wave drenched them both. Eventually, they decided to simply float on the water.
"Ah, it's so nice to swim!" Yugi moaned, delightfully letting the waves carry him.
"Oh, yes!" Téa moaned in agreement, elegantly stroking backwards before righting herself. "Did you not swim much in the desert?" she asked.
"Only quick dips," her new friend confessed. He gave a happy laugh before tilting his head back with a sigh. "Most people feared the crocodiles and water horses that lived in the river. Rightly so: they're vicious hunters, crocodiles, and the water horses are simply nasty. There were oases and springs, of course, and fountains. But as I said: only quick dips." He released a heavy, contented sigh. "Still, I love the water."
Téa smiled and swam to his side. "You say that as though you do not get to enjoy it much."
"Not as much as I used to," Yugi confessed, recalling a few less than pleasant memories of his childhood. "I—my family, lived in the Great House—the home of the king—and I loved nothing more than going in the garden ponds and springs. Once, I even tried to swim in the lake, though my father told me it was only for sailing ships and not swimming…" A sad frown creased his lips. "When my mother died and my sister and I went to stay at the temple, my trips became less frequent, more so when she was called back to the capital and I was forced to stay. In truth, this is the first time I've been able to properly swim in a while."
A sigh escaped him and she was quick to notice the diffident change in his tone. "Everything here is so different from my old home. I confess, I've spent half the day blinded by amazement and the other half wondering if I'll ever be able to keep up.
"How long have you been here?" Téa inquired.
"Not long," Yugi chuckled, a blush blooming on his face. "We arrived about a fortnight ago, but I'm afraid my husband has kept me…" his blush darkened though his smile widened, "...busy since then."
"I see," Téa giggled and covered her face with her hands. "That's me as well, I'm afraid. Locri is so different from the city I grew up in. Why, I remember when I first came here, it was so big and so populated that I clung to my husband's shirtsleeve the entire way for fear I'd get swept away and lost forever," she said with a sarcastic honk to her laugh. "Just reliving it sends me into a fit!"
Yugi chuckled and Téa smiled, pleased she'd managed to lighten his mood.
"How long have you been married?" Yugi asked, curious.
"A year," she replied, a proud smirk on her face. "Best time of my life, though I confess," she gave a gleeful giggle, "most days I want to throttle sense into that ungodly, thick rock he's got in place of a skull! Right stubborn, that man is..." She paused in her laughter; a sigh escaped from her lips, though her love clear in her lidded eyes, "But he's a good man—and he works hard. I wouldn't want him for anyone else."
She cast a longing gaze towards the horizon. "We used to spend many a sweet day here on the beach." She giggled when she recalled his shocked expression when she flew past him, his horror when she flashed him a saucy wink. Served him right for worrying her like he did—she would make it up to him later, though.
Her smile dissolved. She ceased her floating and regained her footing. Her mouth straightened into a flat line of displeasure. "At least we used to before his captain's wife showed up."
"Who?' Yugi sat up as well, blinking at the uncharacteristic bitterness in the woman's voice.
"I think that's what he's called? The man who runs a ship. Captain, right?" She pushed back a flop of wet hair, looking both flustered and bewildered at once. "My hometown's not big on seafaring, you see, so I don't really know nautical terms." With a heavy sigh, she rose from the water and shook the moisture from her hair; her soaked shift clung uncomfortably to her skin and she did her best to wring it free. "Much as I'd love to continue this, it's getting late in the day, and I imagine neither of us wish to return home soaked to our bones. Let's dry off on the shore. I'll explain there."
Yugi frowned but complied, casting a glance towards the fading sun edging ever closer to the horizon. He quickly shook out his hair, squeezed the water from his shift, and dried himself off as best he could with his hood. The spring air was icy against his skin, so he wrapped the cloak about his shoulders to dull out the cold.
They sat next to each other on the beach. Curiosity was bright in Yugi's eyes, and she wasn't surprised when he asked, "Why don't you like his captain's wife?"
It was an honest enough question, but she had no desire to reveal the worst of her character to her new friend by ranting like a mad woman. So, she took a long, deep breath to steady herself, and with an exasperated sigh, she began her rant.
"Mind you, I've not met them yet—and I dislike speaking ill of a person until I have—but in this case... I confess, it's my overprotectiveness more than anything else." She paused, taking a moment to check her composure. "About a month or two back, my husband sent me a letter saying that his captain had just gotten married, though he did not sound the least bit happy about it. That alone I thought was strange, as from what I understand, the man had been intended. Then again, he's been known to take true of false information." She heaved another heavy sigh. "Anyway, I thought that, maybe, the woman was only mildly unpleasant, and I didn't think much else until after his ship finally returned. I all but burst down to the docks, everything else be damned. I was so happy to have him home! We had spent nearly a season apart, mind you." Her eyes sparkled with the memory, then just as quickly flashed with a furious fire. "So you can imagine my horror when he came home with a busted up arm! Got it while he was arguing with the wench, if you can believe that!"
"Was he alright?" Yugi gasped in horror, remembering Otogi's own injury on the Eye.
"Aye," she deflated with a relieved sigh before it morphed into a protective growl—one of love and loyalty as much as it was indignity and rage. "But it never would've happened if she hadn't distracted him. He's spent his whole life on a ship! Certainly he knows better?!"
Yugi frowned and squeezed her hand. "Did he tell you that?"
She snorted. "I demanded it from him, but he got all flustered and said he was arguing with the captain's new wife when the wind picked up and knocked him clean out of the air… I confess I was too angry to hear much else." Her fists clenched in indignation.
"But he is alright?"
She nodded. "He is healing well."
"That's good. Many men are not so lucky."
Téa sighed, her anger stilling. "I suppose...?"
There was a long, uneasy pause between them that made her curious. When she looked to Yugi again, she could see words forming on his lips, but something like hesitance was holding them back.
"If I may...I can offer an alternative perspective?"
There was an uncharacteristic nervousness to his tone that Téa found unsettling, but something in his eyes made him seem determined. "What's the alternative?"
"Well, I think it must have been very difficult for the men to accept a new authority so suddenly…" His face flushed and his eyes were suddenly distant with recollection. Téa blinked, surprised, but did not interrupt him. "And it must've been scary for her as well, being thrust into such a position of influence when she didn't have much experience. Your husband's crew must've felt like she was trying to influence them too much when she may have only wished to help…"
He paused again, his exhale sharp. "I confess, I was in a similar situation with my husband. His men may like me now, but in the beginning," he sighed, "I hated them for not respecting me—even though I had done nothing to earn such—and they hated me for trying to command them when I had no business in doing so. It took me a long time to earn their trust, even when I wanted to help. Once, I tried warning them of dangerous winds coming, but whether it was out of spite or pride, the sailing master refused to listen to me until one of the loose beams knocked him down and dislocated his arm." She gasped, horrified. Yugi nodded solemnly and continued, "I was able to reset it, and after that, things were different. The men started to trust me more—though I had to earn it first." His smile returned with a brightness that suited him much better than doubt had. "I know not if the situation is the same, but mayhaps something similar happened with your husband."
Téa stared at him and blinked, unsure of how to ponder the information. With her anger and worry dispersed, it suddenly all seemed…silly.
With a giggle that slowly morphed into a laugh, she spun to her new friend and smiled. "You know what, Yugi? I really like you. Thank you for keeping me from committing a horrible act of misjudgment."
Yugi swallowed a snort at the remark, then matched her giggling. "You are welcome, then, I think?" He stared out over the horizon where the sky was already painted with deep purples and reds and released another wistful sigh. "I must confess, though, it is more my own experience I speak of… I also left everything behind to come here with my husband."
The words were almost a choked sob, and Téa could tell—without needing him to speak the words—the depth of his feelings for the man. Whoever he was, he was truly blessed to have such a kind and wise heart for his own. "And…" she urged gently, sensing the secret he'd been holding.
Yugi folded his legs to his chest, squeezing them as he rested his head on his arms. He was shaking. "I'm afraid, Téa…" The words tumbled out with such heaviness, she doubted Yugi could stop himself from saying them even if he wanted to. "I'm afraid of how strong this feeling is! It's wonderful but it's all so new—everything here is new—and I love it! I love him and I love this city and I love the people, but I'm also terrified…"
"Terrified of what?" she urged once more, her words soft and encouraging.
"Of failing!" Yugi confessed, the faintest trace of tears glittering on his lashes. "I know it's silly of me to think thus, but I can't help it! I'm afraid of failing him—I'm afraid that, despite all that he's done for me and all that everyone has done to help me prepare for my new role, I cannot do it! Or worse, I won't be good at it, and I'll fail and keep making mistakes. I'm afraid of disappointing them, Téa…" The silence hung heavy in the air. The words were barely a whisper as he breathed out his worst fear: "I'm afraid of disappointing him."
She could stand it no longer. She rushed forward and embraced him, scooping him up in her arms and holding him so tight; it was a miracle they both did not stumble. Yugi neither returned nor rejected the embrace, but soon she felt him sinking deeper into her arms, releasing all the doubts he'd been holding as they spilled out in tears, though he did not sob.
"You know what this feels like," he finally said as he lifted his face to meet hers. "Don't you?"
She nodded her own smile. "An entire year with the man and I still know nothing of sailor's speak. I know all the songs and all the dances and all the steps in every city in Atlantis, but I can't even tell you what it is that my husband does other than see to the boats, or what his title is. I wonder all the time if that makes me unworthy and if I'll ever get it right…" A laugh that could've been a snort broke the tension. "You know what he does when I talk like this?"
She knew he did not.
"He laughs," she chortled. "He laughs, the bastard, and tells me to banish those thoughts from my head because he didn't marry me for all that nonsense, and that I was silly to think he loved me any less because of it. And just as I'm in a right fit and ready to clock him for it, he catches me and kisses me and tells me that he loves me!" Her voice was a mixture of annoyance and utter delight. "Oh, help me: I hate it when he does that! It's all he has to do to make me complicit, and it works because I love him and I love that he knows me well enough to know that that's all I need to get those foolish thoughts out of my head!"
Yugi beamed at her story. "It's strange," he confessed, rubbing his arms. "We love each other, and I know it to be true more than I have ever known or trusted anything, and yet…" He sighed. "I know so little about him—about his past. I know it hurts for him to speak of it, and there are some secrets he's not yet ready to tell me, but I can't help but wonder if it is really love when we still know so little of each other."
"Oh, my friend," Téa shook her head. "Of course it is! That is how you know it to be so! It is you he loves. Yes, you may know little of each other, but that's the point of a marriage: everything new you learn only makes the love stronger."
Yugi shot up, his wide eyes a mix between bewilderment and understanding. Téa recognized the look as one she'd had not a moment ago and burst into a fit of unrestrained giggles. Yugi tried to swallow his own amusement but failed miserably—and before long, they were both laughing.
"Thank you, Téa."
"Thank you, Yugi."
They stood, shook the last of the water and sand from their shifts, and made to pull their dresses back on. "Perhaps we can do this again tomorrow?"
"That sounds—" Yugi's excitement died when he saw the sun sinking deeper in the sky. "Oh no!" he shrieked. "It's so late, I'll never be able to get home from here!"
"Where do you live?" Téa questioned, determination emboldening her voice.
"The Palazzo," Yugi answered quickly.
Téa snapped her fingers with a triumphant, "You are in luck!" She seized his shoulders, turned him round, and showed him the path they'd come from. "That fork takes you to the hills just past the temple. It might be a bit uphill, but I know there's bound to be at least one last boat going up for the night."
"Thank you, Téa!" Yugi burst with excitement, picking up his cloak, hood and bags.
"Go, Yugi, go! Before it gets too dark to see!" she hollered after him, all but shrieking with delight as he disappeared up the hill with far more energy than she could ever have.
With a half-laugh, half-gasp of accomplishment, the girl fell back on the sand, allowing herself a final moment of peace before she too made the journey home.
It was all quickly ruined by an ear-splitting shriek.
"Téa!" The voice and the tone was one she knew only too well. With a slump of defeat, she half turned and found her husband barreling towards her, his two companions struggling horribly to keep up with the pace and power his newfound frustration had bespelled him.
Knowing she had little hope of talking her way out of this, she switched to a more sultry air. She lowered her lids just so, tilted her chin ever so slightly, and whispered coquettishly, "Hello, Otogi."
The man slid to a stop in the sand, nearly toppling over; his expression was torn between one of fury and fascination. To her disappointment, his fury won out. "Now is not the time for teasing, woman!" he scolded, voice heavy with panting and panic. "Where is he?"
She blinked. "Who?"
"I just said no teasing!" Otogi grabbed fistfuls of his hair, almost screaming. "The boy you were with—the Magister's wife! Where did he go?! Please, my love, by all the gods, tell me you did not chase him off!"
"The…Magister's…wife?" Realization hit her like a cold, wet wave. Pieces of conversation fell wordlessly into place, fitting into a picture that was suddenly very clear. "Yugi is...the Magister's wife?"
Otogi's nod confirmed it, but her mind still clung to the last fibers of denial. "But I thought you said her name was—"
"Yugi is a preferred name," Otogi cut her off with a sound that was half between a sigh and a groan. "It's what he likes his closest companions to call him…" As if processing those words for the first time, Otogi's eyes shot open wide as a green frog's and stared at his wife in amazement. "He gave you that name?" Shock crippled his voice. "You…and he… You didn't know?"
Téa mimicked her husband's expression. The truth of it all made it home, and it was so hilarious, Téa threw her head back and burst into a roaring laughter. She laughed so hard she had to cling to her sides; tears pricked her eyes but she could not bring herself to stop and wipe them away. Otogi looked at her as if he feared she might topple over and die from it. When she all but stumbled, he dove to catch her just as Malik and Ryou bound up beside him and all but dropped from exhaustion.
"What the blasted devils is wrong with her?" Malik snapped, unamused.
"I just made my peace with the master's wife," she explained when her laughter died long enough for her to speak, though the words were almost breathless from exhaustion. "And I didn't even realize it!"
"You what?!" Ryou shrieked, all tiredness forgotten.
"Which reminds me, darling." Téa's laughter stopped at once; the droll in that final syllable made the man flinch. When she looked up, Otogi saw her mirthful expression had transformed: her brows knitted together, accusation twitched her eye, and the smirk that slit her face was one of absolute rage.
Otogi's heart stopped, knowing all too well what that look meant.
"Was there something you forgot to tell me, about how exactly you injured your arm?" She leaned closer to him as she said each word, mellifluous and dripping with derision.
The man gulped. "Well—you see—my love—" He rubbed the back of his neck and his head slumped in shame. "I was…too ashamed to tell you earlier, but…"
He divulged the whole of the tale to her and was rudely cut off by her fist hammering his head. "Dammit, woman! What was that for?!"
"For not being honest with me, you louse!" she snapped with an indignant snort. "What would you have done, had I snapped at Yugi for something he didn't do?! I should clock you for that alone!"
"I would've told ya when you stopped raging like a harpy!" Otogi fired back, matching her temper.
Ryou shook his head, dropping it defeatedly in his hands.
Malik, however, had far less patience. "Shut up, the both of ya! You said you were with the Little Prince, but he's not here! So where the abyss is he?"
"I was just wondering that myself."
All three men froze.
Their hearts leapt to their throats, then plummeted straight down to the pits of their stomachs. They knew that voice. They knew that shadowed, low tone. With jarring slowness and tremendous reluctance, they turned their heads, and the last flittering traces of their hope evaporated like mist in the desert.
"Gentlemen," Timaeus began with a musical purr that betrayed the dangerous curl in his smirk. "Where is my wife?"
That's right everyone! The big man is back...and he is not happy XD it is just WAY too much fun being mean to those three...
This chapter was SO much fun to write-I was able to really just jump right into it! Originally I was going to have Yugi escape to the beach and meet Tea there, but the opportunity for a dancer's rivalry in the Sister of Paint and Song was too perfect to ignore and this way I got to spend the whole chapter building their relationship and being totally mischievous about it Heehee...
I'm also personally very proud of the scene between her and Otogi, it was very fun to write and it just felt like it flowed naturally which I always love :) i feel these two really compliment each other and i love writing Tea with a more feisty personality that's true to herself (she really is a great character in the manga where i feel her anime counterpart made her way too blah) Anyway hope you enjoyed!
One last chapter to go and after a few weeks of grieving and overcoming the initial terror that came with the excitement of that...I can honestly say the final chapter is in progress. I may not have accomplished my goal of finishing this story by the end of the year but this WILL be the year i finish it, edit it and send it out to be published...
and I really want to take the time to everyone who not only bothered to read it, but like it, comment on it, review it, critique it and make it into the incredible story is has become and what it was destined to be. This story holds a very closer and personal relationship with me given I started it during a time in my life where I was going through some very heavy and difficult transitions and it not only helped me through it but helped me rediscover myself and I want nothing more than for this to be the first story I finalize and share with the world.
Thank you all so much!
NEXT TIME: Yugi makes one last stop on his way home that changes everything...and while one journey and stage of his life comes to a close, another is just upon the horizon...