Jupiter's_Magic: So here's the next chapter! Kok is the best! Translations will be at the bottom. I don't own YuGiOh
"Are we there yet?" Valon whined, fidgeting in his seat.
"No," came four other voices in reply, their voices exasperated.
The boy huffed and folded his arms, beginning to pout.
"And besides, we just took off an hour ago," Alister said, smacking the teen over his head. "We won't be in France for another twelve hours."
"Oi!" he exclaimed. "Stop 'ittin' me! I's not cool!"
"Neither are you, but you don't hear me complaining about it."
Skye rolled her eyes as the two bikers began arguing, looking instead to Raphael and smiling brightly up at him. "Like the leg room?" she asked.
Raphael, who had leaned back in his seat with a contented expression on his face, glanced down at his girlfriend. "Yeah. There's more room and I'm not practically folded into my seat."
"I figured. You never liked flying whenever we had to go out of the country for Dartz," she explained with a smile, taking out her sketchbook and beginning to sketch. A moment later, she pulled out her iPod and her headphones, placing the earbuds in her ears before resuming her sketching
Raphael smiled contentedly before looking out the window. Skye had left him to his own thoughts, and most of them revolved around their destination. Due to his pondering, however, he did not notice his girlfriend staring at him, eyes shifting from her book back to him every now and then with a worried frown.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been immersed in his thoughts, but what brought him out of them was the sudden pressure on his shoulder. He looked down to see what it was and then let out a soft chuckle—Skye had fallen asleep and had chosen him to be her impromptu pillow.
A glance at his watch told him that two hours had passed since she had last spoken to him and he shifted in his seat carefully, making himself slightly more comfortable but making certain he did not wake Skye up. She shifted and mumbled incoherently, but stayed where she was.
Raphael shook his head in amusement before his eyes went to the open sketchbook in her lap; her hands were covering a part of the sketch she'd been working on, but from what he could immediately tell she had been sketching him.
Intrigued, he gingerly pulled the book out from under her hands and studied the sketch. It was certainly no Mona Lisa, but it was fairly accurate; she'd been doing a profile of him and it seemed she hadn't been able to get his nose entirely right, but beyond that the rest of the picture was surprisingly good.
A sudden hunch made him close the book and then open it to the first page. He nearly laughed at the first picture (he assumed it was Valon, since the squares on his head looked a lot like his goggles) but kept on turning the pages anyway; the sketches got better every time he turned the page. As he kept going, though, his eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Most of her sketches seemed to be centered on him (he felt a large rush of affection for Skye at that). She must have started this book around the time she had started working at Paradius, he mused; most of the drawings in the book were focused around the three bikers and numerous incidents that had happened only during Doma—she'd even drawn the incident where Valon had accidentally set off fireworks inside Paradius.
He looked up when he heard Alister's voice retort loudly, "For the last time, Valon, we are not getting a monkey!"
"What's the big deal about it?" he asked. "It's just a monkey."
"They literally throw crap at people, pick their noses and their—"
"Can't you two go for a few hours without fighting?" Skye asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. "What are you arguing about now?"
"Valon wants a pet monkey."
"It would be cool!" Valon defended. "I mean, sure, we got Jasper and Misha, but 'eck, 'avin' a monkey would be awesome!"
"We already have one," Skye said flatly.
At the baffled gazes being directed at her, she giggled. "He's sitting next to Alister and wearing a pair of goggles."
After an agonizing ten more hours on the plane, the bikers were finally in France. Of course, the boys all got stared at but Skye and Lola slipped under the radar—they were the most normal looking of the group. Let's face it, the bikers stood out like sore thumbs.
"So what're we looking for?" Valon asked. "'ow do we know where we're goin'?"
"I was told that we would have a chauffeur," Skye started. "I think we're looking for a sign…there it is!" she said, pointing to a man, holding a sign with "Kaiba" written on it.
"Bonjour mademoiselle," the chauffeur said, nodding his head. "Puis-je prendre vos bagages?"
"Oi! Wha's this bloke saying?"
Rolling his eyes, Raphael stepped forward. "Oui. Merci monsieur. Je suis désolé pour mon ami."
"C'est bien, Monsieur. Si je peux demander, vous sont Monsieur Durant?"
"Oui."
Valon and Lola both dropped their jaws at the same time, while Alister merely raised an eyebrow and Skye…well, she'd found one more reason that she was in love with the man.
"Très bien. Me suivre et je vous prendrai à votre destination," the chauffeur said gracefully.
"Does anyone know what the 'ell this guy is saying?" Valon snapped, regaining his composure. This only earned him a slap over the head from both Lola and Alister.
"Merci," replied Raphael before he turned to the small group. "Let's go."
"Holy crap, Raph. Tha' was scary! 'ell, I didn' even know you spoke French!"
"I did at one point live in France. I may have lost the accent, but I still know the language," Raphael sighed.
"And I know Skye loved it," Lola said in a singsong voice.
This only got the Hispanic girl a smack on the head from said girl.
After driving for about twenty minutes they reached their next destination. It was a two-story traditional country house with a red and white brick exterior; two oak trees in the front yard were at the corners of the house and a flower garden along the front patio was in full bloom.
"This place is huge!" Lola and Valon exclaimed in unison, staring at the house with surprise.
Skye glanced over to Raphael to gauge his reaction. His current expression, while predominantly a happy one, had confusion and something she could not identify mixed with it. He cleared his throat and said, "Skye, is this—?"
At that very moment, the front door opened, cutting off his reply as a woman in her early fifties came out of the house. Her blonde hair was up in a loose bun, revealing a few barely noticeable silver strands in her hair. A huge smile appeared on her face as her eyes landed on Raphael.
"It's so good to see you again!" she exclaimed, pulling the much taller blond into a surprisingly strong hug. Raphael was completely caught off guard by the woman and returned her hug weakly.
"Aunt Amelia," he almost questioned, looking to a suddenly innocent looking Skye.
"Who else do you think it is? And give me a better hug than that, what good are all those muscles if you don't use them?" she chided, and Raphael let out a laugh as he relaxed.
"Are these your friends?" she asked once she and Raphael had separated, studying the group intently.
"Yeah. Aunt Amelia, this is Valon, Alister, Lola, and—"
"Skyler," Amelia said knowledgeably as her eyes landed on the girl in question, startling her nephew. "We spoke on the phone a couple days ago when we were arranging your stay. It is an honor to finally meet you."
"Likewise."
"She's so precious, Raphael. I like her already," she declared warmly, causing Skye's smile to widen and Raphael to rub the back of his head in embarrassment. "Now come along, you lot, and let me show you to your rooms."
The inside of the stone house was just as awe-inspiring as the exterior; when they walked inside, they immediately entered the foyer. To the right was a study room and the left was what appeared to be the dining room. The kitchen was directly in front of the foyer; next to the kitchen they caught a glimpse of the spacious living room.
"This is a beautiful home you have," Lola stated.
"Thank you," a male voice replied from behind them, and as they turned they saw the black haired man step into view. He was around the same age as Raphael's aunt, since they could see gray streaks through the dark hair. He was about Raphael's height, perhaps an inch taller if one put them side by side. "I designed it myself."
"No kiddin'?" Valon asked in disbelief. "Did you build it, too?"
Alister rolled his eyes and cuffed the back of Valon's head. "Enough with the twenty questions."
"No, I don't mind," said the man cheerfully. "I did the blueprints, but I have a friend of mine who's a contractor. He helped out."
"Hello, Uncle Clement," Raphael said, smiling at the man.
"It's good to see you again," replied Clement warmly. "I'd chat longer, but Amelia is about to burst at the seams unless she starts talking."
"I am not," retorted the woman good-naturedly. "We better sort out room assignments now. Skyler and Lola can take the guest room over the garage and you three men can take the guest rooms here in the house; there's one by the patio, one here next to the living room, and the last one is upstairs."
"I call the one near the patio!" Valon said promptly as he disappeared from view.
"Valon you idiot—" Alister began as he took a step after him, but Raphael stopped him by placing a hand on the redhead's shoulder. The smaller biker looked up at him with a scowl. "Why did you stop me?"
A familiar yelp from somewhere out of sight stopped Raphael from replying, and the man gestured in that direction with an amused smile on his face. "Oliver," he said in explanation.
"Who?" asked Lola curiously.
An unfamiliar voice broke the calm with a furious and indignant, "Do you mind? I'm trying to sleep! And who the infierno are you?"
"Olivier! Language!" his aunt yelled sharply.
A few seconds later a teenage boy clothed in a dark hoodie and jeans came out of the room Valon had just disappeared into. He had dark brown hair with noticeably blond highlights and was two inches taller than Skyler was. He had one of Valon's arms pinned back behind him and the Australian was barely moving to get away—a quick glance told Skye that the arm pinned was the one that he had recently broken.
"Who's this moron?" snapped the boy irritably, looking to Amelia for an explanation.
Alister noted the suddenly dreamy expression on Lola's face and instantly felt a pang of jealousy.
"This is my cousin Olivier. Olivier, these are my friends, Alister, Lola and my girlfriend Skyler," he emphasized, shooting his cousin a pointed expression when the teen glanced at Skye. "The one you're hanging onto is Valon."
Amelia looked embarrassed. "Oh Olivier, I'm sorry! I completely forgot your room is back there."
"Usually he's out with friends. He barely inhabits his room," said Clement from somewhere in the house. "Honest mistake, love."
Amelia apologized profusely to Olivier before turning her attention to the small group. "I apologize, but it seems there's only two rooms available at the moment. One of you is going to have to share a room."
"I call dibs on not rooming with Valon," Alister declared promptly.
"Valon will room with me," Raphael said, and after a few more moments of conversation Raphael led the two other male bikers to their rooms, leaving behind the girls.
"Don't worry, dears. I'll show you the room over the garage," said Amelia brightly. "I saved it just for you two—it's the second biggest room in the house."
"Cool!" the girls said in unison, giving each other high fives as they followed after Amelia.
"Happy birthday, Raphael!" Skye cheered, jumping on his bed and waking him up.
"Skyler…? It's too early" he groaned, the sound muffled by his pillow.
"Come on," she wheedled. "There's coffee on the table."
No movement. Raphael had gone right back to sleep.
Skye contemplated this for a few seconds before rolling her eyes. "Valon's about to drink all the coffee," she said flatly.
"He better not!" Raphael said sharply as he got out of the bed (knocking Skye off her feet in the process), instantly awake and heading out of the room to the kitchen. As an afterthought he returned to the room to help his girlfriend off the floor. "Sorry," he apologized sheepishly.
Together, the two of them went down to the kitchen, where Amelia was in the process of making breakfast. When the woman saw them a smile lit her features and she crossed the room. "Good morning, birthday boy" his aunt said, pinching his cheek affectionately.
"Don't do that," muttered Raphael with some embarrassment.
"Oi! It's Raph's birthday? I completely forgot," said Valon, suddenly looking guilty.
"No surprise there," muttered Alister under his breath, rolling his eyes as he resumed eating.
"Don't worry, dear. Where we're going you'll have a chance to get him a present," declared Amelia matter-of-factly. "Any guesses where we're going, by the way?"
"Too tired to think. Haven't had coffee," Raphael mumbled, reaching for the coffee pot on the table.
"PARIS!" the girls squealed in excitement, causing the men in the room to wince.
"Could you not do that?" growled Olivier. Clement nodded in agreement, returning to the newspaper he had been reading.
"What makes you say we're going to Paris?" asked Alister, glancing at Lola and Skye with arched eyebrows.
"It's a girl thing," his aunt said sagely. "So hurry up and eat so we can go. Clement, Olivier, are you coming?"
"Nope," said the two at the same time.
"You three are coming, aren't you?" Amelia inquired of the three male bikers, but there was something in her tone that told them that she was not asking.
Skye's POV
"Where's Raphael?" I asked as I filed out the restaurant after Lola, Alister, and Valon.
We'd had a successful day in Paris and I had gotten Raphael a few things for his birthday, as had Alister, Lola, and Valon. But toward the end of the day Raphael had steadily looked more and more uncomfortable, and when we had gotten inside he had excused himself and then had left the room. He hadn't come back.
Amelia hesitated, looking distinctly uneasy when she noticed Raphael was gone. "He's probably at the cemetery," she said at last when she had ushered the rest of the group away from us.
"Why?"
She looked surprised before a suddenly serious expression made its way onto her face. "He didn't tell you, did he?"
I shook my head, uncertain as to what I was supposed to know.
A scowl appeared on her face. "Oh goodness, that boy," she muttered, though there was no real wrath to her words. Her features softened when she looked at me. "The poor sweetie doesn't like people bringing up his birthday," she continued, looking saddened.
"How come?" I asked, suddenly uncomfortable.
"You know that he was shipwrecked and marooned, right?"
"Yeah," I said slowly, feeling even more uncomfortable. It's never a good omen if that particular topic gets brought up.
"That horrible accident happened on his eleventh birthday," she stated quietly, not looking at me anymore. "Clement's younger brother was Raphael's father. My husband may have lost his brother, but Raphael lost everything on that day."
My mouth dropped open and I felt weak in the knees; I was forced to sit down on a nearby bench. Now I understood why he'd been so tense when Alister had brought up his birthday a couple days ago, why he had been so distant on the plane flight, and why he had looked uncomfortable when we had passed the cemetery earlier—this was such a tender topic and I felt like I had trampled all over it.
"Sweetie, I'm glad you brought him here," Amelia said, sitting down next to me and putting a hand on my shoulder; she must have seen that I was upset (not that I was bothering to hide my emotions at this point). "The last time I saw him he was sixteen years old and he was still as touchy about this topic as he is now. He can't keep running from this forever, though—a birthday is an inevitable part of life."
"Where is he?" I asked jerkily, looking up at her.
"At the cemetery. It's right around the corner…we'll head on home. Raphael knows our address, he'll get you back," she replied kindly. I wasted no time, getting to my feet and hurrying past my friends—I needed to find him.
I sprinted out of the restaurant, heading straight for the cemetery. When I arrived, I stared at the gated entrance; above the door was an artfully metal wrought plaque that read, 'Cimetière'.
Sometime later I arrived, pushing open the gates that led into the cemetery. When I touched the iron bars they felt as cold as ice, but I didn't care; all that mattered was that I had to get to Raphael. Under my feet I could feel the unevenness of the old cobbled path, the stones smooth save for the occasional dead leaf that got crunched under my foot.
The moon was my only source of light as I moved silently past the various tombstones, but it was enough for me to see that there was someone up ahead; the figure was hunched in front of four marble slabs, and even from here I could see the pain that they were in.
There was only one person it could be, given this hour.
The sight made my heart sink. There he was, on his knees and his back to me—if he looked this bad from behind, I can't even imagine what his face looks like at this point.
"Raphael?" I asked gently, my voice trembling.
The man visibly jumped and scrambled to his feet, completely caught off guard and looking uncharacteristically vulnerable for a brief second before regaining his composure. "Skye," he said quietly, his blue eyes over bright. "I didn't know you were in the cemetery."
"I was worried and your aunt told me where to find you. I heard what happened to your family," I said softly. "I didn't know…"
"I didn't exactly tell you, either," he said with a humorless laugh. In the moonlight I could see that there were tear tracks visible on his face and my heart hurt for him. He reached up and tried to rub at his eyes, but I caught his hand and moved under his arm to hug him tightly.
"You know it's alright to cry," I murmured. "I won't think any less of you for it."
There was a long pause after I spoke, and then his arms were around me and he had buried his face in my hair; he was holding me so tight that it was getting harder to breathe, but his shoulders are shaking and I have no desire to disentangle myself from his embrace.
"It still hurts," he whispered brokenly. "I know they said that I'm not to blame myself, but even now I can't help it."
"Blame yourself for what?" I asked, my voice muffled by his chest.
He realized that he was crushing me and pushed me away from him, holding me by the shoulders as he looked at me. His eyes glittered with self-loathing, still far too bright. "Dartz needed me, not my family. He sank the cruise ship just so he could later recruit me—it's my fault that they died."
I felt as if a train had slammed into me. "That son of a…how could…?" I trailed off, stunned, and then I growled. "That son of a sphinx!"
"Sphinx?" he asked me, a ghost of a smile touching his face.
"First thing that came to mind," I said with an attempted smile before I met his gaze. "Raphael, it's not—"
Don't cry, big brother.
Raphael jumped at the sound of the little boy's voice, and I looked behind my boyfriend to see the small boy watching us sadly. At first I thought he was alone, but then I saw the blonde girl with him; her blue eyes were gazing at Raphael with an equal amount of sadness. Neither child appeared to be older than ten; they were both transparent, as a matter of fact.
"Sonia? Julien?" Raphael questioned shakily, his face paling as he looked at the two children. A hand went up to cover my mouth when I realized that these ghosts were his siblings and a wave of misery hit me—they had been that young when they'd died?
Hi, big brother Julien chirped, taking a few running steps forward before leaping at his older brother. In spite of the fact that he was nothing more than a ghost, the child still managed to bring Raphael to the ground, hugging him tightly. The blond man raised his hands to return the hug, looking completely bowled over.
I couldn't help but let out a startled laugh. "And I thought Valon tackling you was funny. Who knew a little kid bring you down?" I joked.
My voice caught the attention of the little girl, and she turned her big blue eyes on me briefly before looking to Raphael. Big brother, who is she?
Raphael, who was still wearing a stunned expression on his face and was still holding his brother, said, "Sonia, this is Skyler. She's a very special friend of mine."
Sonia studied me with a nameless expression before she leaned over to her brother and stage whispered, She's really pretty, Raphael.
I giggled, but blushed when Raphael replied to his sister with a heartfelt, "I know."
He held out one of his hands to his sister and then she was hugging him as well; both of the children were sitting comfortably on his lap now and the three of them lapsed into a murmured conversation in French.
I smiled at the sight and didn't mind that they had, in essence, excluded me from the conversation. Raphael had not seen them in years and he definitely deserved to have a few moments alone with them.
There was a soft rustling noise behind me and I looked over my shoulder. My eyes widened when I saw the man and woman behind me. "I'm sorry, I didn't know we were intruding," I began, glancing back to where Raphael was sitting with his siblings. I wasn't sure how these people were going to react when they saw Raphael seemingly conversing with absolutely nothing; maybe they could see the children and they were going to…to…
It was about then that I noticed that the couple was also transparent.
"You're Raphael's parents, aren't you?" I asked, comprehension dawning on me.
The woman, a stunningly beautiful blonde with blue eyes (and now I know whose eyes Raphael has), nodded graciously. The gentleman beside her, a well-built man with hazel eyes and brown hair swept off his face, tipped his head to me with an amused twinkle in his eyes. Neither of them said anything, instead looking briefly at their children with identical warm smiles before returning their attention to me.
"I'm Skyler," I said, suddenly shy. "I'm his, er…his girlfriend," I offered with some embarrassment. It's kind of awkward to introduce yourself to your boyfriend's dead parents.
The man eyed me and then smiled approvingly, his wife mirroring the expression. Raphael, who had looked up (likely to see what I was doing) and had caught his parent's eyes, stared at them in surprise.
His mother's smile broadened and she said something in French to him; I didn't know the language, but judging by that loving tone she had spoken in it was something important. Then she and her husband vanished from view once again.
My cell phone vibrated at that point and I took it out, glancing at the text from Alister before sighing. Raphael was still staring at the place where his parents had been with an awed expression on his face, but when I cleared my throat his eyes went to me.
"Raphael, we have to get back," I said, hating the fact I had to break this moment up. "Valon found your cousin's Mountain Dew and is spazzing. So far, he's shaved the cat—"
"Say no more," he replied with a small chuckle. He gently moved his siblings off his lap and rose to his feet, looking down at them; his eyes were over bright again, but there was a wide smile on his face that hadn't been there before. "Thank you," he told them.
We're always with you,said Sonia with a gentle smile before she and her brother vanished.
Raphael gazed at the spot where his brother and sister had been before holding his hand out to me. "Let's go home," he said quietly.
I nodded, letting him take my hand and then lead me out of the cemetery. We said nothing, a comfortable silence between us until we reached the iron gates. "Raphael, what did your siblings say?" I asked.
Raphael paused. "They told me that if I ever blamed myself for the cruise ship sinking again they'd come back and haunt me," he said at last.
I know that's not everything they said, judging by that expression on his face, but there are some things that I probably won't get an explanation for. I also know better than to ask Raphael what his mother said—I've got a funny feeling that I already know.
We had to catch a taxi to get us home, but just as Amelia said Raphael knew the address and we found ourselves right back at the country house thirty minutes later. When we entered the house, though, we were greeted by a sight that only caused us to laugh.
Valon was rolled up in a rug, completely immobilized by the duct tape and rope that wrapped the carpet; a strip of duct tape was over his mouth, rendering him incapable of sound.
Sitting calmly on top of the Valon-in-rug burrito was Alister and Olivier, who were currently playing Halo; Lola was watching from the armchair, while Clement and Amelia were snuggled on the sofa, the woman knitting while her husband read from a book.
"Aunt Amelia, Uncle Clement, did you have anything to do with this?" asked Raphael with barely visible amusement.
The older adults glanced at Raphael with feigned innocence. "Who, us?" they questioned at the same time.
So I hope you enjoyed it. Here are the translations:
Bonjour mademoiselle- Hello Miss
Puis-je prendre vos bagages- May I take your bags
Oui. Merci monsieur. Je suis désolé pour mon ami- Yes, thank you sir. I am sorry for my friend
C'est bien, Monsieur. Si je peux demander, vous sont Monsieur Durant - It's alright sir. If I may ask, are you Mister Durant?
Oui - Yes
Très bien. Me suivre et je vous prendrai à votre destination - Very well. Follow me and I will take you to your destination
Merci - Thank you
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