Isn't it redundant by now? Geez, I'm far to consumed with love for Maggot Boy to give a crap. :D :D :D :D :D
No one asked any questions about how or why Aglaia suddenly acquired massive kick-ass skills and no one asked why they suddenly disappeared as Duke called for his limousine to pick them up.
Aglaia stood away cleaning her glasses as Mai and the rest reacquainted themselves. It was awkward at first, but improving.
While the rest would return to Duke's mansion to be treated without having to go to the hospital (and thereby arousing the suspicion that might just be Mai's third strike), Aglaia was dropped off home.
Hiding blood stains on a red dress was harder than she would have imagined.
"Honey, what is that?"
"Um-- it's-- that's punch."
Sunday morning, Aglaia dressed in a tunic and dress pants.
Church.
Due to the relative minority that Christians made in Japan, to find a Greek Orthodox Church in Domino would have been impossible; instead, Kalliope settled for Roman Catholicism.
Once the Atsukos arrived that early morning(wrinkled and yawning as they were), they found the congregation just as they, shivering in the morning cold and shifting in their pews.
One could derive from his accent that the preacher was American, and while he gave his sermon and repeated the prayers that Aglaia knew would repeated, she took care to count the lights overheard three times, thereby missing the signals to stand, kneel, and repeat in unison.
Never had Aglaia been a doubtful girl (nor specifically faithful), but it was particularly troubling to look up at the huge wooden cross hung over them and not think about the little ring she had left in her jewelry box. She played all types of games with her glasses as not to look at it.
After the service, as the congregation slowly idled downstairs for refreshments, Kalliope ran around, introducing and making friends while Kenichi and Hiroto ghosted along behind her.
Meanwhile, Aglaia made her way into the abandoned confessions room, unsure of what she meant.
Opening the door to the candle lit room and closing it reluctantly, she took a seat on the wooden bench on the wall.
She began to knock on the slanted wood that led to the room over, but a voice stopped her.
"Who is it?" an obviously old woman answered, seeming to not expect anyone.
"Um-- excuse me m'am--" Aglaia began, but cleared her throat as to not give herself away. "I-- I was hoping you could answer some questions for me."
"Well, are you new to the faith?"
"Um-- no."
"Well, what is it you'd like to ask?"
Having not thought it over, Aglaia shuffled her fingers and paused.
"Are you still there?"
"Yes, m'am."
"Well what is it, then?"
"How do I even know there's a god?"
"Eh-- excuse me?"
"Well, how do you know?"
"I don't know."
"Then why are we even here?" The floodgates of doubt, wrought of years of sitting idly in pews, burst open.
"It's out of faith. God asks for faith. If His existence was outright, well, that wouldn't be faith."
"Okay, but then, if God loves us, why do good things happen to bad people?"
"Well-- um. Well, it's part of His plan."
"His plan?"
"Yes. Everything is part of His plan."
"Even Adam and Eve eating the fruit?"
"What?"
"When He created earth, and told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit, but they did, was that part of His plan, too?"
"Um-- I don't know. It might have been."
"And does He plan for people to go to Hell?"
"Well-- you see--"
"And in any case, how come this religion is right, and no one else's? How come-- how come there are so many types of Christianity if it's the truth? Which one is right?"
"Listen," she said as she proceeded to make an annoyed grunt-sigh sound with her nose, "I'm not God. I don't have all of the answers. If you're having doubts, reading Scriptures is what I recommend--"
But Aglaia was already down the hall she ran out of the wooden door (not caring to close it), down the isolated hall, and into the bustling lobby room. Hiroto and Kenichi stood offishly in the corner.
With a subtle motion of his shoulder, Hiroto indicated the door. Aglaia stood perplexed for a moment and then nodded.
The three waited quietly in the car for Kalliope to come.
Kenichi, however, noticed Aglaia (as her shaken expression was a dead give-away) and asked sarcastically, "Have fun?"
Blankly, Aglaia nodded.
The next few weeks through April went relatively peacefully.
Mai and the rest renewed their friendship (to some extent). Joey welcomed her in with open arms, as well as Teá and Yugi; however, the others were less warm in their welcome.
Teá had been spending a lot of time with Ryou, it seemed, as well. (When Aglaia mentioned this to Aphrodite, she wondered why she chuckled.)
Aglaia rose quickly in precedence at the charisma agency, which consumed to most of her time and efforts. A lot of the time she would forget that she was working, so deeply love with her work.
The girl worked her way up the promotional ladder to a full charisma agent, actively shopping with and advising the "patients". One might call it moving up, and as she did, so did her hopes.
Aya took a long sip of oolong tea and rested her chin on her folded hands. She had been emailing Aglaia and found herself bombarded with doubts and bitterness towards her church and religion.
Herself, Aya had never been a fan of the church (or any organized religious institution). But was not the discussion she sought to have with a girl whose jewelry is possessed.
Ryou rolled onto his side, sick of that feeling. The feeling of having to throw up but then being unable to, the feeling of excruciating exhaustion coupled with the crippling insomnia. He was going to lose his mind, if he already hadn't.
He thought that it would be all easy going after the Dark Spirit of the Millennium Ring left him, but it never really left him. He still dreamt about it every night, still saw it wherever he went.
Sometimes he dreamt about what would happen if his mother and sister ever met him. Those were his least favorite dreams.
But now he had trained himself to wake from nightmares before they consumed him. He soon found that if they didn't, the sleep deprivation would.
Now again he heard silence, the silence set over the street below.
"Are you up yet?"
Ryou looked to the door in shock.
"You're here?" he could only ask.
"Of course I am. I said I'd stay, didn't I?" Teá bumped the door open with her hip and brought in a tray of rice porridge with vegetables and steaming hot ginger shoga-yu. "I thought you might be hungry. You barely have any food here, I had to go down to the convenience store to get it."
Ryou blinked stupidly as she set the tray down on his bed and sat beside it.
He almost again said "you're still here", but thought better of it.
"Thank you," he said as he sat up took the shoga-yu to drink. He burst into a brighter smile before he sipped it and again said, "Thank you."
Finally, Golden Week. It happened so quickly.
On an overnight bus ride to Tokyo, Aglaia, Teá, Serenity, and Mai, as well as some girls from the charisma agency. The four friends spent a lot of time wandering and window-shopping (and when it came to bartering, Mai proved herself an asset).
It was like the prelude to a dream: glossy, glamorous Tokyo, and the girls had a chance to be a part of it.
The time came all too soon for Aglaia to present her designs to the judges. There were so many girls in the crowded, cement stadium, and so many of them were prettier than Aglaia.
Still, as Aglaia dressed Teá, Serenity, and Mai in their Greek-influenced fashions(of course), she couldn't help but feel a surge of confidence. Surely tonight something amazing will happen, she thought over and over.
The first designer was called onto the stage to present her work. Holding the microphone as the camera closed in on the models, she spoke with a stutter her fabrics, inspirations, and model names. The event was being televised.
Aglaia watched girl after girl shiver under the spotlight and her lip quivered as she did. Moments before her named was called, she kissed her ring, as Aphrodite took over.
Down the catwalk trounced a goddess in sandals and the music played. Glasses off.
"I am Atsuko Aglaia. Remember my name!" The voice boomed into and out of the speakers. A close-up was done on her half violet, half hazel eyes. Kalliope, watching back in Domino City, nearly fainted.
"The first model is the beautiful and graceful Teá Gardiner!" She swung her arm dramatically at the curtains as Teá came out on cue. "As you can see, she's wearing a purple halter dress with gold finish. . ."
And as Aphrodite proceeded to introduce her models and friends as grandly as she could (and oh, how she could), the judges scribbled constant notes at the end of the runway.
(And Serenity did as she promised by resisting to tug at the edges of her dress, while Mai winked at the crowd, a natural.)
Aglaia stared dumbly up at the score board.
"Aglaia! What is it? Did we win?!" Teá ran up behind Aglaia and grabbed onto her shoulder, as not to hit the wall. Serenity and Mai followed, finished with changing.
"No," she droned from the bottom of her stomach. "We got 67th place."
Could I really have expected to win?
Aglaia thought it over and over. The bus was leaving for an overnight trip back to Domino City and she stood with her design journal, which she had so slaved over.
On the verge of tears, she threw it down into the garbage can. What was she thinking?
In her rage, she kicked the can, carelessly knocking it into the street, and ran towards the parking lot where the bus waited.
Waiting to return to reality. She found it kind of symbolic.
Two hours later, on the road scarcely traveled, a limousine turned down it for a shortcut. It met with a trash can, and though that should have been knocked to the side, the pothole that it lied in threw the vehicle off balance, popping a sort of reversed wheelie. At the same time, the tire burst.
Inside, Maximillion Pegasus, miffed as he was, had his mood worsened. Now he would have to wait as his driver replaced the tire. Then, from his window, he saw a colorfully decorated book lying out in the street, there beside his door.
[Chainey Chainey Chainey. My thoughts are consumed by zombies as I write this. Haha, also I dare say I might try my hand at drawing the outfits I've so far imagined Aglaia in. Just for kicksies. As always, review or I'll eat your brains. Do you like Ryou and Teá together? I do. :D Thanks again, lovely Beta-baby Mythy! Oh, and guess who you can expect next chapter?! MOKUBA! In all of his chibi-glory. Oh, some Seto as well. X) But really, I apologize for the lack of involvement of this character I've claimed to base the fic on. He's coming, he really is. All in good time. That is, if you review! I know you're in there, you sick little monkeys. I see you.]
Ahem. That is all.