Mad at Mouse Part 56

Destiny laughed and laughed, until she was gasping for breath, and laughed again.

Kismet, Dilemma and Plight glared, a flicker of fury growing in their bearings.

The others present in the Grand Hall, even the most innocent among them, could sense the rising tension, the promise of violence in the air.

Weapons were checked, exits cleared, allied groups shifted together and into a suggestion of battle stance.

Finally Destiny managed to stop, forced several deep breaths and looked up with a true smile, amusement dancing in her eyes.

“You don’t believe,” She said, “After all these years, after all the proof we’ve seen, after everything that happened, and you still don’t believe.” He voice was light, filled with wonder that had before only been present in her songs.

Dilemma snarled, “He isn’t coming for you, Destiny.”

And she laughed again. “He doesn’t have to.” She responded, “Death is beaten!”

“What does that even mean?” Sora asked, bringing the attention of the four on him. Judging by the flicker of confusion on their faces, they had forgotten anyone else was in the room.

“It’s...” Destiny made a helpless gesture as she reached out for words, her eyes flickering around the room. “He saved me...” Her eyes flickered to the windows, where the sky was starting to leak a sickly purple. “I don’t...”

Plight snorted, “The Light bearer is a myth. A legend. He won’t save you.”

Destiny turned back to light with a sharp gesture, “He doesn’t need to. I am saved. Death holds no fear. She is beaten!” Thunder sounded distantly, and Destiny grinned.

“And doesn’t that make you mad!” She yelled to the sky, “Death is beaten!” Thunder boomed again, closer this time.

She looked back to the gathered people.

“You may not remember the tales, you may not know the reasons, your ancestors drove Death back, but we didn’t do it alone. And he” She gestured to the sky, “He hates us for that. He will destroy everything because we steal from her every day we live.”

“You mean the Last Death.” Hades said.

“Hades?” Maleficent raised an eyebrow. Tell me more. Written on her face for those who could read it.

Hades smirked, “Death isn’t when your heart stops beating and you stop breathing. True Death is when all you have done on this earth has faded and is forgotten, when all memory of self has faded to nothingness.”

“Yes!” Destiny crowed, “Exactly! He will come for me. His rage will know no bounds. I crow the defeat of his love to the Heavens, and that cannot stand.”

Kismet took a menacing step towards Destiny, “And what the Destiny? When he kills you and he will kill you. Then what?”

Destiny smirked, “I’m a honey trap Kismet, surely you’re familiar with those.” Her smile became positively blood thirsty, “Unbind me and watch him burn.”

Mad at Mouse Part 55

What followed was a tale Mickey could have done without knowing.

Kismet insisted that any who wished to hear, should be allowed to listen in. It was their lives on the line after all.

“Death was beaten back, and War came to lay bear the Worlds again.”

“We locked him away in the void. Thinking to contain his power. Hoping that it would give us enough time to rebuild.”

“But there was could be no peace between us, we did not understand his power.”

“War came.”

“Everything shattered.”

“We couldn’t let him escape. We had to stop his influence.”

“We didn’t have a choice.”

“We volunteered.”

“The three of us.” Kismet gestured to herself, Dilemma and Plight.

“It wasn’t enough.” Destiny interrupted, and Kismet glared at her, but nodded.

“We did the ritual. It would have killed us, should have killed us,” at the widening eyes she added, “Was intended to kill us.”

“A sacrifice for nothing.” Destiny said quietly.

“We were willing.” Dilemma growled at her.

Kismet gestured sharply, “There was an error in the ritual. We should have been enough...”

“You misjudged the faithfulness of your people.” Destiny said.

Kismet closed her eyes. “Destiny saw the problem, saw a way of fixing, of bridging that gap.”

“It worked.” Destiny said.

“Destiny bridged the gap, but in doing so, broke us.”

“It was acceptable.” Dilemma said.

“The other option was unthinkable.” Plight agreed.

“But now we have fallen. The cage is open. He is unleashed again.” Kismet voice sounded so tired, so lost. “And the worlds, your Worlds, are ill prepared for what shall come.”

Destiny laughed.

Honda's Ghost Part 5

Ever get that feeling that things are going on beneath your nose that you really should be aware of?

Every single day with Jonouchi and Yugi.

And now Anzu was hiding something.

I would like to point out that while I watched all three of the trouble spots, Honda only really interacted with Jonouchi.

Yugi was usually incredibly cheerful, as long as someone was talking to him, once he thought no one was looking he would turn thoughtful and unusually sober.

I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t spend most of our time in class expecting an attack from that direction.

Jonouchi was an easily read book, in a foreign language. For all that I knew what he was going to do from moment to moment, I had no real clue what was going on in that blond head. I knew his patterns, I could guess what drove him, but... there was always the but.

Honda seemed quite happy to get swept up in the whirlwind that was Jonouchi most of the time, and I had to admit, even from my spectator’s view, most of the antics the boys got up to was amusing.

The one time it wasn’t, my rage flared, and I got proof that Honda could feel me somewhat, as he immediately tried to backtrack.

Two words.

Panty tank.

Jonouchi got a face full of Anzu’s fist that day, I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

Honda spent most of that day tense and unhappy, barely taking the lesson in.

I guess, sometimes he can’t forget, although I don’t know what dark roads his mind took.

Hanasaki was forever glum, and I didn’t know what to do about that. I suppose I could have prodded Honda to do something about it, but he had been completely ignoring my hints that he should try befriending Yugi, so I didn’t have much hope on that front.

I spent too much time watching and thinking, thinking and watching. It wasn’t good for me to be trapped in my own thoughts.

I missed my Joey... It was a sudden ache for all that it was expected. Soon I would start to miss my family and other friends, but it was rare that a week would go by that I hadn’t spoken to Joey half a dozen times.

Maybe... I could write a letter? Burn it afterwards, but a letter might be good.

I set the thought aside for now, and tried to focus back on our classmates.

The mystery of Anzu presented itself again.

She had been acting odd for a few days, I wasn’t sure if anyone else had noticed, but it was my habit to observe our classmates, and Anzu was keyed up and more tired than usual. It was little things. She was slower to react, but quicker to anger, as Jonouchi usually managed to do several times a day.

If I had control, I would have blinked.

Jonouchi starts hanging around with Yugi more, Anzu suddenly starts over reacting to Jonouchi? Was she jealous? I tested the thought, turning it over in my mind.

I didn’t know. It seemed plausible but...

I sighed. It would have to wait another day.

The school bell rang, the teachers made a fuss, Honda ignored them, watching a girl...

She was pretty, I supposed. I shifted through Honda’s memories. The student librarian, so she must have an interest in books. Honda’s face warmed, and I felt his hands fisting. I quickly backed away from the memories.

He took a deep breath and spun, stalking out of the classroom.

He didn’t want me to know.

Fine. That was fine. He would tell me eventually, or I would learn from another source.

--__--

The next morning I felt like a fool.

I hadn’t even considered keeping track of the news.

I had picked up the paper on my morning run. There had been an article about a fire that caught my eye.

I had skimmed through the rest of the paper just out of curiosity.

Kaiba was in the business pages.

There was a photo, the Kaiba I knew and his adopted father.

Worse was that I recognised him.

He had faded into the background, a distant figure that didn’t waste much time with school yard games. He was a loner that choose to fade into the crowd.

I hadn’t noticed him.

I had ignored his name.

I had been ignoring a threat all this time?

No.

I might not have known the direction of the threat, but I knew enough to know the school wasn’t safe.

I met up with Jonouchi, who was buzzing about the events of last night, practically ready to tackle the first person to draw his ire, crowing about the stupidity of people setting themselves on fire.

“What!?” I turned to stare at him and Jonouchi grinned.

“I guess that got your attention?” He asked brashly.

“You...” I pulled out the paper.

“Were in Burger World when that escaped convict stopped by?” His grin turned sly.

“I missed the fire?” I asked sorrowfully.

Jonouchi drew back “Yeah... well I’m not going to forgot the smell for a while...”

Oh, yeah, ick. That can’t have been pleasant.

“No...” I said, “I don’t suppose you will. Were the others okay?” I asked.

Jonouchi shrugged, “Anzu and Yugi are fine, I was really worried about them for a while...” He laughed, “Guess I should know better, Anzu is as tough as nails.”

Damn it, I had missed another Shadow Game.

Knights Against the Night Part 12

Mars was the elder of the two, dark fur had been burned, and of the pair it was usually assumed he had been the first in the dark, spent longest underneath.

It didn't matter what most of them thought, the youngsters didn't see the dark look in their eyes, their haunted forms. The oldsters might have been wiser once, but most of them had spent too long in the safety of the workshop.

He didn't know what they were going to do next.

Neither of them did.

So when Uno called him to his office, his first thought was 'Oh no, Beano's been caught." Caught doing what was the question.

"Have you given any thought to your future?" Uno asked, the old bear regarding him over his desk with tired eyes.

"Yes Sir." Mars answered, relief echoing. This wasn't about Beano.

The old bear waited, "And...?" He asked, and Mars ducked his head.

"We don't know." Mars replied, "We haven't made any decisions."

Uno raised an eyebrow. "We?"

Mars folded his arms and glared. "Me and Beano."

Uno nodded sharply, "You intend to work together?"

Mars looked away, "He's the only one left. The only one I could save."

Uno didn't seem to react and Mars carefully examined the patterns on the floor.

Silence was heavy, Uno tapped his desk.

"You haven't gone to the Healers."

"No." Mars looked at his superior. "We would fail the Psyche test."

Uno nodded. "We are aware of that. Everyone does at first. You will need the help if you want to get anywhere."

Mars stared at the paperwork on the desk.

"And if there's no helping us?" Mars asked quietly.

"I don't believe that. No one believes that. Take the chance."

Mars shook his head. "But there is a chance."

Uno stood up and moved around his desk and grabbed Mars' paw.

"You have a future. You got here. Let us help."

Knights Against the Night Part 11

The Workshop always went quiet on Christmas.

It was a little startling if you wasn't used to it.

Even the elves slept in on the morning after the big day.

Beano and Mars hadn't, taking advantage of the quiet.

They sat on the roof, watching the dawn, and checking off options.

"Well teaching and the guard is off straight away." Beano said.

"We knew that already." Mars said, setting aside the paperwork.

"Mentoring?" Beano asked, frowning. "I thought that was what some of the older kids did."

Mars glanced over, looking over the mouse's head to examine the papers.

"Field work mentorship." Mars said, considering.

"That... might be an option." Beano said, eyes lighting.

Mars tapped one of the requirements. "Psyche."

Beano sighed. "Why do I get a feeling even the cleaners get given to Phych?"

"I could..." Mars offered, half hearted.

Beano shrugged. "We'll have to brave the healing rooms eventually."

Mars pushed the mentor paperwork to the side.

"Not yet." Mars said, "Maybe later."

"Research." Beano said. "No psyche required."

Mars shook his head, "Not for me. Might be good for you."

"The healers." Beano snorted, "Psyche required, but you can start the basic training beforehand."

"I doubt I have the patience. Not really a Ted job, is it?" Mars said.

Beano's tail flicked, "You would have to start at the beginning, bet you might end up in classes with baby dolls."

Mars shook his head, "Not until I pass the Psyche. I can barely believe they let us attend the party without testing us."

"They didn't have much choice." Beano replied, "Unless they wanted to lock us in our rooms for a week, and they won't do that unless we prove dangerous."

Mars put aside the healers leaflet, considering it and wondering if it would be possible to get the basics without being railroaded into the rest.

A possibility to bring up later, when he had more information. Would be good to give Beano something else to focus on.

"Shame we didn't have any Dolls. Might have been useful." Mars said.

"Maybe." Beano readily agreed, glancing over the burn scars guiltily. "I'm... sorry" He offered.

Mars shook his head, "There was nothing you could have done." but even as he said it, he knew Beano wouldn't believe him, still blaming himself for falling into the dark when the house was under attack.

"Den mother." Beano said, smirking. "And look, another Phych eval."

Mars laughed, "I can see why they don't get many of those."

Beano paused, an idea occurring to him. "Do you remember having a den mother? I don't think I do. I don't think I know anyone who did..."

Mars glanced over. "No. I didn't. Didn't get a mentor either, in or out of the field."

Beano nodded, eyes clouded in thought, "And the classes are larger now. I checked the rankings."

Mars tilted his head. "There are more students."

"Yes..." Beano trailed off. "And less support staff."

"Oh."

"It's getting worse."