Ho, boy… Busy day! Finally got (mildly) caught up on my homework, so I thought I'd take a minute until class started to get this posted. I may switch to Wednesday updates since that's my lighter day. If you don't see an update next Monday, then you can expect it on Wednesday, okay? ^_^
And my appreciation goes out to RobotFish, FiringShootingStar, Rapis-Razuri, AnimeKiwi369, theforgottenpeople96, Shinn Tsukishiro, LittleKrus, Seeker Heart, RunoandAkizafan, Mixer18, TFRiD Queen, and poohbear4u for their awesome reviews!
And anons include Mariah (twice!), ChibiX, LDC, name, PDS and one guest! Mariah: Yeah, Carly's a little bit messed up ^^; You'll see more on her soon. And I kind of expected that some readers might not know the English names for characters. To me, it's weird to call them Jose and Lucciano XD ChibiX: Yeah, you can expect a bit of a trip with Carly :P
LDC: I think it's still a few chapters until Yusei and Hideo meet formally, but it should come up soon enough :) name: I actually played with an idea where Carly was knocked out several times by the Enforcers and escaped every time. I ended up cutting that, though, because of all the writer's block she and Jack were giving me :P PDS: Thank you so much!
And, as always, many thanks to RobotFish for his awesome beta work!
And now for some mysterious plot development! Yay!
Sunset Horizon
Chapter 22 – Mark of Dragons
Akiza laughed as the children ran past her, enjoying the night before going to bed. Since Yusei had opted to spend the night with his friends, she decided she would go down into the tunnels and visit with the children. She didn't get to very often, especially since she and Yusei had started living together, and she found she missed sitting with them.
"Erm…"
She turned with a smile, expecting one of the children with a bashful look, but frowned at the sight of Luna standing there with one arm crossed over to touch her opposite elbow. "Akiza… Can we talk?"
She smiled at Haruka and pat her head once before standing. "Of course, Luna. Where do you want to go?"
The priestess nodded her head towards the door and turned to walk out, waiting in the doorway until her friend caught up. She walked silently through the tunnels, leading the way to a place that was out of earshot of the children. She finally stopped when she reached the base of the ladder leading to the bar and turned slowly to face Akiza, wringing her hands together before saying, "Akiza, I need to talk. I've been holding this in for over a year and I can't take it anymore. You're like my sister, and I feel terrible for not telling you sooner."
Akiza nodded slowly, getting the feeling this was about her mission from the church. "I'm listening."
"I just… I didn't want you to get involved, you know? But I… I need your help, Akiza."
She reached out and set her hands on her friend's, saying, "It's all right, Luna. I understand. I'm here to help you."
Giving a short nod, she pulled her hands back and reached into the pocket of her robe before withdrawing a piece of paper. She held it out slowly, saying, "I'm looking for someone with this mark."
Akiza took the page and lit a psychic fire over her other hand so she could see better, then let out a gasp. "It…" She paused, taking a moment before finishing, "It looks like a dragon's head."
"Vaguely, yes. I was told someone with that mark was in this town. Do you know who it is?"
She swallowed, her memory flashing back to the various times she'd seen the same symbol on Yusei's forearm. She felt her heart speed up, her mind telling her that Yusei was in some kind of trouble and, more importantly, had been keeping secrets from her. Struggling, she forced herself to stay level-headed and asked, "What's special about this person?"
"I…" she averted her gaze while biting her lip. "I can't say too much, but there's something they have to do. There's a predestined fate for them, and if they aren't fully aware of what it means, then they could be in trouble."
She nodded slowly, biting back tears. "Do you know anything about this person? Age, gender, anything?"
Shaking her head, she murmured, "No, I don't. I'm sorry, Akiza. If it helps at all, the mark should look something like this," she added, pushing her sleeve up to show a red tattoo in the shape of a small claw just below her elbow.
She reached out to touch it, wondering aloud, "Just what have you gotten yourself into, Luna?"
"I…" She bit her lip and turned away. "I never should have gotten you involved."
"It's all right," she whispered, dissipating the flame and reaching out to touch her friend's shoulder. Holding up the paper, she asked, "Can I keep this?"
"Go ahead," she said, fighting back tears of her own. "I drew a few copies of it."
Nodding, she murmured, "Thank you. I'll be sure to let you know if I find anything."
"Thank you." She flashed a smile and took her hand again, gripping tightly in a form of gratitude.
"Of course. Anything for my only sister," she replied, forcing a smile of her own. "I'm going to head upstairs now and see if Bruno needs any help cleaning up, okay?"
"Okay. Take care, Akiza."
"I will." With that said, she turned and moved to climb the ladder, holding the paper with the drawing in her hand. Just what was Yusei not telling her? She needed to talk to him, and soon.
…
Yusei shook his head as he ran up to the back of the Dragon's Claw, then leapt to climb up onto the balcony and over the rail. He pushed the door open silently, slipping inside and shutting it again. Moving over to the bed, he knelt down beside the mattress and leaned closer to the sole occupant.
He barely brushed his lips against her cheek before she jumped awake. He grinned cockishly before saying, "Morning."
Her lips formed a smile as she shifted to sit up. "Morning. How did yesterday go?"
"Well…" he started. He ran a hand through his hair, thinking. "That's, uh… We need your help with something, actually."
Her eyebrow rose as if initiating a challenge. "'We'?"
He grinned and shifted to sit on the bed next to her. "I need your help."
"What's going on?"
"It's, ah…" He paused again, not entirely sure how to ask her. "We found something really strange, and it doesn't make any sense. I was hoping your senses might be able to pick up something we're missing."
She raised her arms in a stretch over her head. "I see."
He leaned closer to steal a kiss, but paused as she pressed her forefinger to his lips to stop him. Groaning slightly, he muttered, "What's this for?"
She smiled and threw the blankets back so she could stand. "You left me all by myself last night. I was very lonely," she purred, stroking her finger along his chin as she stood up.
He shifted to follow her, reaching out to hold her hips and step behind her. "I missed you, too. Desperately."
She hummed, carelessly dismissing his affections. "Did you really?"
He frowned. What had gotten into her? She would play games, but she usually gave in by now. "Akiza…"
"Look," she muttered, turning to face him with a slight hint of anger in her eyes. "You want me to see what this problem is, so why don't you let me get ready?"
Blinking, he stared in astonishment as she stepped away from him. Clearly, he'd done something to upset her, but he had no idea what it was. He stepped back and sat on the bed in defeat, watching her as she changed from her nightgown to her dress. She didn't even striptease. She almost always teased him when she dressed while he was in the room.
Something was wrong, but he had no idea what it could possibly be.
Finally, she stepped into her shoes and picked up her parasol, saying, "Let's go, then."
He nodded and stood to walk after her, reaching out to wrap his arm around her waist. She shrugged out of his hold, making his stomach drop as he realized that whatever he did was really bad. Swallowing his spit, he trailed after her as she opened the door and raised her umbrella. Whatever he did, he needed to figure out what it was and fix it. Fast.
He walked beside her in silence, sneaking sideways glances at her while trying to figure it out. She hadn't been angry at him when he left, so something must have happened while he was out. Did he forget to clean up something? Do something for Annie or Max? He knew he had kissed her goodbye. He would never forget that.
Finally, he walked around her and stopped before her, placing his hands on her shoulders and asking, "Okay, I know I did something wrong, but, for the love of Crimson, I have no idea what it is. Please, just tell me what I did wrong so I can make it up to you."
She kept her eyes down, refusing to meet his gaze, before reaching in the bust of her dress and pulling a piece of paper out. Shoving the page against him, she met his gaze with a look of anger and hurt, tears threatening to start spilling. He stared in shock at her expression, wondering what was so bad about the page that hurt her so badly. Slowly, he forced himself to take the paper in one hand to examine it, eyes widening at the sight.
In the center of the page, a charcoal diagram of his tattoo glared back, the eye in the center looking more malicious than ever before. He didn't know why she had it drawn, or why it was upsetting her so much, so he asked, "Akiza… I don't understand. What-?"
"-What does this mean? I think that should be my question, Yusei." She took the paper from him and held it in his face, shaking it slightly as her anger started to get the better of her. "You owe me an explanation. What does this tattoo of yours mean?"
He sighed, knowing there was no way to get around this conversation, and muttered, "All right. I'll tell you what I know, but trust me when I say it isn't much. But not here."
She nodded and glanced around the busy street once before hiding her disheveled appearance under her parasol. "There had better be a good explanation."
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Akiza, I don't fully understand what this thing means, but I promise I'll tell you what I know." He nodded back towards the bar and said, "Come on. It's as good a place as any."
She gave a slight dip of her chin in acknowledgement before walking with him towards their home. Instead of walking inside, she made for the backyard and walked over to the water trough before splashing some of its contents on her face. He walked behind her and leaned against one of the pillars to the balcony and watched her in silence for a moment, trying to figure out where to start.
"I'm waiting, Yusei."
He nodded and heaved a sigh, saying, "All right, I'm going to tell you a little about my childhood. Bear with me, it does connect to this mark."
She turned to face him, watching as his opposite hand moved to settle on top of his right forearm. He took a deep breath and started, "I never really got along with my father. Growing up, he always put his place as a senator above being there for me. My mother was always there. She rarely went anywhere without me, and she always did everything to make me smile. She often encouraged me to bond with my father, but every time I tried to beg him to bring me fishing or on a trip, he always said 'no.' It's just who he was."
Her eyebrow rose as she sat on the small bench in the shade, saying, "I don't see how this relates, but go on." After a slight pause, she added, "I always wondered about your childhood, anyway."
He walked over to her and bent down to kneel next to her, reaching out to hold her hand. "All you had to do was ask. I would've told you. I just… It's hard for me to think about my past, especially what I'm about to tell you."
She nodded, giving him a cue to continue. He inhaled deeply and said, "My mother was always there. She read me stories of the Crimson Dragon as I was going to sleep, brought me to church, raised me to believe in the Dragon. And I did, for a time. It was what I was raised to know. Plus, the thought of dragons soaring around and protecting the earth was a pretty cool thought to a kid.
"One day, when I was eight… October sixteenth." He paused, closing his eyes and looking away. "My mother and I were getting lunch. We were in the dining room, my father absent as usual, and my mother realized the cheese sauce was missing, so she stood to go get it. We had employees, far too many to count, but they were instructed to work in the rooms where we weren't. I barely remember seeing any of them."
Akiza reached out, unable to stay completely angry with him, and set her hand on his cheek. "What happened?"
He shifted to stand, but dropped down again in the space next to her on the bench while still holding her hand. "My mother walked for the doors, then suddenly collapsed mid-step. She didn't say anything, didn't even grunt. She just fell. At first, I thought she was playing a game, so I laughed. When she didn't get up, I remember thinking that maybe she was really tired. I got up to nudge her, to wake her up. When I got closer, I realized her eyes were still open. She wasn't sleeping. She wasn't even moving."
She gasped, realizing what he was leading up to. "Yusei…"
"I was a kid, and all I knew what that my mother wasn't moving. So I screamed for help. The staff didn't hear me. Our house was too big. But through the open terrace, my neighbor heard. He heard me wailing and, to this day, I don't know why he came. But he showed up, bringing some of the staff with him. I guess he alerted them to what was going on. He was a trained military leader and took charge with ease. He had one of the attendants bring me to his house. I cried and screamed the whole way, not wanting to leave my mother.
"I waited in his home for almost an hour, then he came back. He sat with me for a long time, tried to entertain me. I stayed with him for almost three weeks. I guess either my father didn't care, or he told the bastard where I was. I remember being lost, not knowing what to do. I was eight years old. I didn't know how to deal with death, especially that of my mother. I didn't speak for five days. When my neighbor finally gave up trying to get me to, he went back to living his life."
Akiza listened in wide-eyed curiosity. "What happened?"
"I realized I missed his company, so I searched for him in his house. I heard this loud clanging sound, and it took my attention. I followed it, and I found myself in a forge, my neighbor working on upsetting a piece of iron before my eyes. I sat down on the stairs to watch, mesmerized by his actions, and he didn't realize I was there until almost three hours later."
"So…" she mused. "That man… Your neighbor, was he-?"
He nodded, confirming her curiosities. "Yeah. That was when I met Roman. He started to show me how to smith shortly after that. It took my mind off of my mother and, eventually, I stopped being sad over it. It just stopped hurting so much and, eventually, I was able to go home again. I never did get on good terms with my father, though. Rather, our relationship only got worse after my mother died."
She turned, shifting to seat herself in his lap and wrapped her arms around his shoulders to embrace him. "I'm sorry, Yusei… I wish I could have been there for you…"
He shook his head and forced a smile. "No, it's fine, Akiza. I have regrets, but I wouldn't change anything."
"Yusei, I hate to sound like I don't care—because I do—but how does that tattoo tie into this?"
"I know you care," he murmured, leaning closer and stealing a quick kiss. "This mark," he started, raising his arm to settle on her lap and bringing his hand around her to push his sleeve up. "It's… I don't understand it. It was on my mother's arm. I remember it clearly. She would wear long sleeves when leaving the house, but when it was just us, she'd leave it open to see. When she died, it faded from her arm and appeared on mine."
She blinked, staring at the tattoo in shock. "Is that… possible?"
He coughed a short laugh. "Apparently. I don't have any other reasoning."
Her fingers gently traced over the red lines, silently absorbing the situation. "But that… Why? I mean, if it magically moved from your mother's arm to yours, then what's its purpose?"
Shrugging slightly, he muttered, "Beats me. All I know is that, sometimes, when I smith, it'll start to glow."
She turned to look at him, eyes wide. "It glows?"
"Yeah," he said, nodding once. "Only when I smith. I thought it was just the firelight in the forge reflecting on it, but it got brighter depending on which project I was working on."
"If he doesn't know what it means," she mumbled absently. "Then he could be in a great deal of trouble…"
"Akiza?" he asked, looking at her oddly. Did she know something he didn't? "What are you talking about?"
"We need to talk to Luna," she said, shifting to stand. "I think she knows more about this."
"Wait! Akiza!" he called, trying to stop her from pulling him to his feet and dragging him along. "This has waited thirteen years already. Jack's probably going to throttle me if we take any longer to check on him."
She stalled, just remembering they had a destination earlier. "Oh… That's right. I am worried, but… if you think that can wait, then it can wait. What does Jack want?"
…
"Carly!"
Four pairs of Enforcer eyes followed Akiza as she ran into the room and over to the bed where the girl was still chained up, whimpering. The psychic took the other girl's hand and murmured, "What did they do to you?"
"I… I don't know…!" the thief girl, Carly, muttered. "I woke up like this and they won't tell me why…"
Yusei cleared his throat slightly and spoke, "We, ah, we found her last night. Rather, she found us. And then moved with inhuman speed and tackled Jack to the ground effortlessly. I couldn't hear what she said from my distance, but the kissing kind of explained it. Carly," he said, addressing the girl and silently asking if he had her name right. When she nodded, he continued, "It's obvious you aren't the same person that did those things, which makes me wonder if there's a supernatural influence at play."
Akiza nodded once, acknowledging her lover's explanation before turning back to her friend. "Carly, I need you to open your mind to me. I won't hurt you, but I need to see if there's another influence."
"Um… O-okay…" she murmured in confusion, keeping her eyes downcast. "How… How do I…?"
"Try to relax. I'll take care of everything." She reached out, gently placing her middle and ring fingers on either side of Carly's temple and exhaled deeply.
Jack crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow. "What the bloody hell is she doing?"
Yusei shot a dark look at his friend and muttered, "Quiet!"
Akiza's head tipped back as she breathed in again, then she suddenly jumped back, releasing a small gasp and stepping back as if frightened. Yusei reached out to catch her and wrapped his arms around her, asking, "What is it?"
Carly stared at her friend with watery eyes. "A-Akiza…?"
She shook her head, burying her face in Yusei's chest for a moment before finally looking up. "It… There's something inside, pushing me out. It won't let me get too deep."
The girl looked absolutely terrified as she murmured, "But that's… That… What does that mean, Akiza?"
The psychic shook her head, clearing her thoughts before moving back to stand beside her friend. "Yusei's right, Carly. There is another force at play. I don't know exactly what it is, but I think I know someone who can help. Stay calm. I'll be right back," she said, then turned on her heel and started for the door.
Yusei watched her for a second, then nodded to his friends as if to say, 'take care of her,' before following after Akiza in a hurry. He caught up to her, reaching out to set his hand on her shoulder to slow her. "Hey, what's going on?"
She paused, but kept her gaze on the ground. "I… I've heard stories, but I didn't know how true they were. They say it's possible that, when someone dies, they refuse to move on and instead stay in our world, trying to exact their revenge for dying."
He blinked. "Wait, what? Isn't stuff like that just a scary story to frighten kids into eating their sprouts?"
Shooting him a look, she asked, "Couldn't the same be said for psychics?"
"Fair enough," he resigned. "How does this tie in with Carly?"
Shaking her head, she started walking again and muttered, "They say that such souls are bound to the soil, hence the name 'Earthbounds.' When they gather enough spite, they can sometimes attach themselves to a living host. The conditions are blurry, but that's all I can think of for Carly's state."
He followed after her, speed-walking to catch up to her before falling into step beside her. "Akiza, where are we going? Who's this friend?"
She kept her eyes on the ground, her hands gripping the support to her parasol. "Luna."
Frowning, he asked, "What can she do to help?"
"She's a priestess. Exorcizing the undead is her field of expertise."
"Isn't that just a legend?"
"It's better than nothing. Carly's a good friend of mine. You would try anything for Kalin, Crow, or Jack, wouldn't you?"
He stalled for a second at her blunt question, then replied, "Of course. Let's go see Luna."
She managed a small smile in his direction and continued back in the direction of the bar. "Yusei… Thank you."
His eyebrow rose in mild confusion. "For what?"
Her lips curved a little more as she moved to lean into his side. "For everything."
He wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her closer before pressing a kiss to her head. "I love you, Akiza. I just want to make you happy."
I know you guys were really looking forward to seeing more of Carly, but you got some YuAki fluffiness mixed with a shadow of Yusei's past. Fair trade? No? Oh, well. I needed to write some YuAki to get out of my block :P
Anyway, we'll see more of Carly next chapter. Promise ;)
Please review!
-Valk