Chapter 12

This was the second morning in a row Arados had woken up feeling sick. It hadn't been so bad when he didn't know why, but now that he did… To make matters worse sleeping in a cave hadn't exactly helped his restlessness. Okay he'd managed to make himself a comfortable enough bed out of the things Crovell had left for him, but he couldn't exactly say it was the best place in the world for him to sleep. He rubbed the area of his stomach False had once explained would form his womb sack and mused over whether or not it was right for him to stay here when he had more than just himself to think about.

As selfish as it seemed, up until this point he'd only really been thinking about himself. There had just been way too much going on for him to deal with for him to think about anything else and as guilty as that made him feel, he couldn't shake the indignant notes of anger and hurt he was still feeling. This baby was not his choice; it had been forced upon him and then concealed. He had been lied to and deceived by two people he considered his friends and, good reasons or not, the father of his baby had made it very clear how he felt about it. His pregnancy was almost entirely False's fault and yet he was the one being left to hold the baby.

For a minute second Arados considered handing it over to Ni at birth and instantly cursed himself for it. Whatever the circumstances of this child's conception. Whatever the relationship of this child's parents. Whatever happened, Arados would not sacrifice his baby like that. Sitting himself down next to the cavernous lake, he began rubbing more thoughtfully at the site of his future bulge. Up till now he'd been allowed to be selfish. After all, this child wasn't exactly his idea and was far from coming at the world's most ideal time. But the child was coming and he was going to have to adapt to that.

'I'm going to be a mother,' the words came out like a dull musing.

The thought itself was strange, but at the same time nothing felt wrong or shameful about it. After all, he wouldn't be the first male in his village to have a baby and Taylor had turned out more than alright for it, present muteness excluded of course.

'And if Kaiba can do it then surely I should be able to,' he told himself firmly, 'after all, I'm a Lutoni and Lutonis are good parents. And if nothing else,' he sighed to himself, as he allowed his fingers to dip into the water, 'at least my child's not going to be its own cousin.'

A shudder shook its way up his spine as he remembered the fact his sister was also pregnant.

'That child's going to have problems,' he rolled his eyes, 'I don't care what she thinks, I know it will.'

'And yours won't laddie?' Nansetter's voice boomed from behind him, almost making him start into the water.

'What's that supposed to mean,' he glared up at her, not too happy to think people would believe him a bad influence.

'Ni will bay after y'lil en may Prince,' she shot him a sympathetic look, 'youse cannea say that'll not bay a problem for the wee burn.'

'Yes but its not like this child is like theirs.'

'And just what's that supposed to mean?'

'The father isn't my half brother for a start.'

'No, but he is youse great nephew, if I'm not mistaken.'

For a moment Arados hesitated, then in some weak kind of protest he murmured.

'Not by blood.'

'I knows that may Prince, but youse can't say that thought hasn't crossed y'mind.'

'Mm,' Arados nodded strangely, 'when we first learnt the truth I was pretty conscious of that fact.'

'Then how can y'say that what youse have is any different from what they have?'

'Blood,' he met her gaze firmly, 'blood makes all the difference.'

Lus hadn't returned home that night. Instead he, False and Kisara had stayed up searching for Mai. Kisara had been fuming when she'd discovered Mai missing, cursing Kashmana and the MacTay name into the ground. Lus had been more than a little shocked by that. After all, up to that point Kisara had been nothing but a sweet little ditz in his presences.

False appeared much less disturbed by it, as though it was nothing more than water off a duck's back. Secretly Lus began to wonder just how bad Kisara's temper could get. After all, if that little display hadn't been enough to shake her best friend… Desperately Lus tried to force those thoughts down. All they did was distract him and the last thing he needed was to be distracted. To begin with forcing them down had been easy, but the longer he'd gone without sleep, the harder it was to keep them at bay.

'Go home Mortal One,' False shot him a look, 'you're no good to us as you are.'

'I said I'd help,' Lus shook his head in an attempt to make himself feel more awake, 'so I'll help.'

'There's not much you can do asleep,' the other lad insisted. 'If you know what's good for you then you'll go home and get some rest.'

'I agree,' Kisara studied him for a moment, 'you're not a Vii Sen, you can't go for days on end without rest and expect to function properly; you need to sleep Lus.'

'I'm fine,' Lus gritted his teeth as he felt a tense trembling start in his body, 'I want to help.'

'The best help you can give us right now Passive One is sleeping and letting us get on with this ourselves,' False was stern. 'You're not as robust as you should be.'

'Don't,' Lus shook him a horrified look.

'Don't what?'

'Don't play the illness card, that's not fair.'

'You've played it,' False shrugged. 'You've admitted to me you're nowhere near as strong as you'd like to be yet. You've admitted to me that…'

'I know what I told you,' he cut him off, 'but I didn't tell you so you could use it against me.'

'Then why did you tell me?' False rolled his eyes. 'Because I can't see any other reason I should know.'

For a few moments Lus was silent. Then, sighing heavily, he turned his gaze away.

'Fine, you win, I'll go home and get a few hours of shut eye. But I'll be back.'

'I'm sure we'll have found Mai by then,' False almost appeared to gloat.

'I don't care,' Lus glared at him, 'I'll still be back.'