Chapter 43

As soon as their Jump had ended, Re had Gan up against the wall with his hand around her throat. With a mixture of uncertain excitement and devilish curiosity, Na rocked the child he was still holding from side to side and waited to see what his siblings were going to do next. For a long time there was nothing but a tense silence, then Gan gave a choked sounding half laugh and placed her hand on top of Re's.

'So the bonds between the Mistresses and their Wins were a little stronger than I anticipated; that doesn't mean what just happened was a total failure.'

'We lost the Axe,' Re's voice contained a deep and penetrating snarl.

'But we kept the child,' Gan remained calm, 'and without the child they can't use the Axe to its full potential. This may not be an ideal situation Re, but things could be a lot worse.'

'Hmm.'

'Come on now Re, if you really wanted to hurt me over this you would have done it already. So why don't you just let go of me so I can work my magic on the brat. We all know his connection to that incomplete idiot is strong, so we must make sure his connection to me is stronger.'

'Incomplete idiot?' Re's face pulled into a frown.

'Oh don't tell me you didn't notice, even without my host's knowledge I'd still have been able to tell.'

Re was silent for a moment, before grunting and pulling away from her. Without hesitation Gan made her way towards Na and took the child back out of his arms.

'I know you hate waiting around Re, but we really need to take our time on this one,' Gan's eyes carefully examined the child, 'the little brat must accept us completely and until he does...'

'I get the idea, but don't keep me waiting around too long Gan or I might just have to finish what I started and punish you for your failure.'

Almost as soon as Win's name had been mentioned, the white glaze appeared over Joey and Kaiba's eyes. This caused the foursome to start dancing around joyfully, as SK found himself edging closer to Duke.

'I can't wait to see what they're about to do.'

'But... I thought you saw it last time,' Duke frowned at him.

'The First had sent me off after the Pure last time,' SK shook his head, 'I got to see the end result, but that was about it. I've always wanted to know exactly what they did though.'

'Why?'

'I don't know, curiosity maybe,' SK's tongue skated across his lips. 'Or maybe it's just one more way I feel inadequate, like the Mistresses don't trust me or something. Sorry, that didn't make much sense, did it?'

'No, but I guess I can understand where you're coming from there,' Duke pulled a face, 'they don't always have a lot of respect in the way they talk to you. I don't want to sound like I'm patronising you or anything, but... well I do feel sorry for you sometimes.'

'Thanks... I think.'

'Do you two mind?' The sound of Joey's voice half made SK jump.

'Uh... sorry,' he shot him an apologetic smile, before indicating to Duke the two of them should move off the edge of the Huntay circle and onto the earth beyond.

The two of them then watched as Kaiba and Joey stopped the four Voices from dancing and gathered them in a huddle in the central circle of the Huntay. The two of them then took up positions in opposing corners of the clearing. Joey was the first to start chanting, causing the Elemental Stones to lift from the ground and start glowing. After a couple of minutes of this the foursome themselves started to emit a bright glow, obscuring their individual features. It was at this point Kaiba joined in the chanting. The light from both the stones and the foursome intensified to near blinding proportions so much so Duke and SK were both forced to look away.

Gritting his teeth and not wanting to miss out on whatever was about to happen, SK forced himself to look back into the blinding light. Somehow he was able to make out four silhouettes in the centre of it. These silhouettes were slowly blurring together whilst the light around them pulsated wildly. After what felt like an eternity the four beings pulled into one. Instantaneously the chanting stopped, the light dropped away and SK found his jaw dropping open as he stared at the results.

He didn't know what he'd been expecting Win to look like exactly, but this wasn't it. With the exception of a single streak of blond down the fringe on the left hand side, the guy who stood before them looked exactly like Body. Well maybe not exactly like him, because this guy had a certain irresistible radiance the youth had lacked. In one swift flicking of his head, the guy revealed the dark side of his face; whatever resemblance Body might have had to Tristan here, Win completely lacked. Both sides of his face matched perfectly, creating this godly kind of beauty enhanced by the soft, yet masculine deep brown of his eyes. One look at his face and you knew he knew how attractive he was and yet there was no arrogance to him, only a single, irresistible draw.

SK wasn't sure if this made him feel uncomfortable or not. He'd never given much thought to his own sexuality in life and in death he didn't really need to; but this was the first time he found himself this drawn to anyone and he wasn't totally sure what it meant.

'It's not just me right,' Duke's voice was as soft as it was edgy, 'you're attracted to that guy too, aren't you?'

'Yeah,' SK nodded, not sure whether or not he was relieved by Duke's admission.

'Well, I guess he was the first male in existence,' Duke gave a nervous laugh, 'so it only stands to reason he would be... perfect. But... I can't help but wonder if all men were design to be as attractive as him.'

'I don't think it's possible. Nature might try to recreate him, but honestly... I don't think it's possible. You got it right with what you said before, he's perfect.'

'You know I have excellent hearing too,' Win shot a knowing look in their direction, revealing the smooth, silkily soft, lightly melodic and defiantly masculine tones of his voice as he did, 'especially when people are talking about me.'

It didn't matter how many times SK's tongue skated across his lips, he couldn't stop the heat rising up through his cheeks and turning him red.

'Are... are you the... err…' SK gave a nervous half cough, half laugh, 'the... um... true… true face of Win?'

'I most certainly am,' he flashed SK a winning smile. 'It's just a shame it's been locked away from the multiverse for so long, don't you think? Or does that make me sound vain?'

'I... I don't think you're vain, not at all,' Duke gave a nervous little giggle, 'I… I think… I mean… I... I really wish I could stop turning into a teenage girl right now, because this is just a little disturbing.'

'I understand your distress; sexuality is such a well defined notion in your reality. But really Duke, this is hardly the worst thing you've ever been through.'

'You… you know my name?'

'Of course; just because I haven't been fully complete in a long time, doesn't mean I haven't been aware. After all, my fragments have continued to exist, gathering knowledge, memories, lives of their own. I know everything they know. Feel everything they feel. I am them, or, rather, they are me.'

Win's gaze shifted towards Joey and Kaiba, who were still stood edgily in their corners of the Huntay area. There was something weird and tense about them and it took a few minutes for SK to work out what it was. The last time Win stood before them he had no memory of himself, so the fact the Mistresses were trapped within male host bodies didn't matter. But this time not only was the Win stood before them a true Adonis, he'd also seen the true faces of the Mistresses. He knew what they looked like and just how truly beautiful they had been before their mortalisation.

When the Mistresses had first been mortalised, SK had asked them why they'd chosen male hosts. The explanation they had given had been more than reasonable; after all it was the souls they were compatible with and the bodies those souls came in were little more than a shell. Gender hadn't made a difference to them back then, apart from as a strange source of amusement, but now...

'I never thought I would return to find my girls changed so much,' Win slowly made his way towards Joey, his words making Joey hang his head in shame. 'You've been through a lot in my absence, so much pain, so much suffering,' he placed a hand under Joey's chin, lifting his head back up towards him. 'Life, this last year especially, has been far from easy for you. But you have come through it as you always do,' he flicked his gaze towards Kaiba. 'You are strong, you are powerful and it is that which makes you beautiful. Aye, you have changed, but you are still my girls.'

These words caused Joey to throw his arms around Win's neck. Within seconds Kaiba had appeared next to them, turning the embrace into a three way one. Inside SK felt strangely sick with envy. He knew it was wrong to feel that way and out of respect for the Mistresses he did his best to suppress those feelings, but he couldn't help it. There was something about Win which made him unnaturally attractive and almost impossible to resist. Still he had to find some way of focusing his mind and ignoring all unwanted thoughts. After all, they had Win now so the real question was; what were they supposed to do with him?