Jaazi: It's been awhile, I know. But that's only because I don't have anything to save my stories on. My other save device died and took all my oneshots/updates with it. I was less than happy.
KK: We still don't have a saving device, but we decided to try to redo this update anyway.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the basic idea/plot thing. Characters are not mine, sadly.
Previously
Bakura hated him. He couldn't remember hatred ever hurting so much before, though.
Chapter Fifteen: Red Zone
The situation was at its critical point. The worst that could've happened did indeed happen. His prince was captured. The Demonic Prince was all but going insane, not to mention bloodthirsty. The Demonic King had every excuse to formally declare war on the Angelic King.
And so, King Yugi was found pacing in his throne room, inspecting his dilemma from every angle possible in order to find a solution. The Angelic Realm was a sanctuary, the only one left, really. Mortals and Demons seeking refuge from tyranny were always allowed to enter. They even had their own communities within the Realm. They were as happy as they could be given the building tension of an inevitable war. King Yugi had tried to avoid it, war. He wanted to reason with the Demonic King using civilized discussions. King Yugi sighed, so much for that idea. The Demon King seems to like violence and domination, King Yugi thought. He gave himself a shake. No. He had to find a way to settle things as peacefully as possible. He could still salvage this, but he was going to need the help of some of his refugees. He waved over a nearby attendant.
"Your Majesty?" the attendant chirped, noting the king's glum behavior and trying to bring him some cheer. The king smiled.
"Mana, bring me Isis and Mokuba."
Joey awoke with a start. He immediately groaned as his head was impaled with a thousand white-hot therapeutic needles. Or it felt like that, at least. He closed his bleary eyes. The light made his pain worse. What happened, he wondered. He hadn't felt this much pain since his first training session when he was ten and scrawny, and could barely lift his sword. He shifted stiffly in what seemed to be a hospital bed. He prodded the sheets and bed dubiously. Yeah, definitely a hospital bed. Now, as to why he'd woken up in the first place, he hadn't figured that out yet. If the pain he felt was anything to go by, he should've been in a coma-like sleep for at least a day and his internal clock was telling him that he hadn't been out that long. He should probably lie back down and rest for a while more.
Oh, so that's why I woke up his numbed mind murmured as Joey was suddenly slammed down onto the bed. The air in his lungs left him, making him gasp and wheeze. He yelled out in protest of the harsh treatment his already battered body received.
"What's wrong? I would assume that any bodyguard assigned to the Prince Ryou would be able to tolerate such pains as these," a voice hissed icily. Joey's watery brown eyes locked onto a familiar figure.
"S-Seto!" he coughed as his attempts to regain his breath continued. The pressure applied to the Angel's chest increased. Joey bit down on his lip to stop himself from crying out. A broken rib, that's going to take a while to heal.
"You have no right to call me by that name," Seto growled. Joey glared, which the Demon completely ignored. Kaiba continued. "Let me inform you of the situation your people find themselves in. Their king's captain of the guard is bedridden and enslaved, leaving his kingdom's army completely unprepared for any attack. The heir has been, until now, left with no memories and inaccessible magic which in turn got him enslaved to our heir. The Angelic Heir finally regained his memories and power, revealing himself in territory that is out of bounds for anyone with Angelic blood, so he is imprisoned and will most likely be tortured for all the information he holds before his public execution. Tell me, mutt, do you want your precious heir to be suffering through the last few hours of his life?"
Joey felt as if a large ice-crusted hand grabbed hold of his insides in an unforgiving grip. "What? You can't be serious." Joey lay on the bed, only vaguely aware of the uncomfortable weight on his middle. His dazed mind was attempting to get through the shock the Demon's words gave him. He had to think. It wasn't possible, how could this have happened? Something occurred to him.
"But you already knew my prince was here," Joey babbled. Why couldn't he think clearly? What he just said wasn't going to help improve matters at all. Kaiba smirked.
"It was merely a guess. I knew of your high caliber in the Angelic army. I knew of your promotions until you finally settled into your position as the Angelic heir's personal guard. I assumed your heir wouldn't be left unprotected so you could visit forbidden grounds. I had no solid evidence of the Angelic heir's presence. Whatever magic was performed on him hid him very well. His aura was only slightly abnormal, something that usually isn't worth mentioning to anyone, but he was getting so close to our own prince that I thought it would be better if I kept an eye on the little slave.
"Be a good mongrel and tell me what you know of your army." Joey looked up at Kaiba, glaring with all his ardent anger. Then again, Kaiba thought, Joey always did things in that manner. Full of passion and using every bit of intensity he could muster. Kaiba didn't know why he was even bothering with the filthy dog. Joey was stubborn to a fault, and Kaiba had no doubt that Joey would endure a painful death before the Angel gave any information to betray his people.
But Kaiba needed to be there, with the Angel. He needed to see the Angel in pain. The Angel had to suffer for what he had done, for bewitching one of the most powerful Demonic mages in the realm. The Angel had to pay for bewitching him. Kaiba increased the pressure on the Angel's torso and felt a conflicted sort of joy in the Angel's grunt of pain.
"Sir Kaiba! What are you doing to my patient?" a voice cried. Both Demon and Angel started. Kaiba's cold eyes narrowed at the dark-haired intruder. Joey's first thought of the intruder was that his eyes were the color of poison.
"Do not interrupt me, Otogi. I need information that this Angel holds," Kaiba snapped. Otogi's green eyes developed a steely glint.
"I've told you to call me Devlin. And I don't care what information you need. You will not harm my patients, whether they're Angels, Demons, or Mortals. Leave now," Devlin growled. The two Demons stared each other down for a few moments before Kaiba gracefully removed himself from the Angel and walked swiftly out of the room but not before throwing its occupants a venomous look. The Demon with poison-green eyes looked over at Joey. "Are you all right? Any trouble breathing or sharp pains in the chest area? You have a couple of cracked ribs that could've easily broken underneath that pressure."
"Oh, uh, I don't think so," Joey said nervously. Devlin grinned saucily, and ruffled Joey's hair.
"Relax blondie. Kaiba must've forgotten that medics have a strict rule about helping the injured and sick regardless of whom or what they are. And, since I'm the head medic here at the castle, I feel I should enforce this particular rule. Don't you agree?" Devlin said. Joey nodded as vigorously as he could. Devlin continued. "So, as long as you're in here, you're safe."
"Where am I?" Joey asked suddenly. Devlin gave him a look.
"The castle's hospital wing," Devlin said slowly. He was beginning to worry that the Angel was concussed worse than he'd originally thought. Joey ignored the odd looks the Demon kept giving him. Safe, he was safe. As long as Joey was safe, Ryou still had a chance of being rescued without help from the higher ups. If only the king knew that…
The Demonic King was not on his throne as he normally would have been. He was, instead, in his bedchamber. It was extravagant, to say the least, just as any king deserves. A bed larger than most peasant houses, the floor covered with the softest of rugs and pelts, walls decorated with ornate tapestries depicting him, the great conqueror; as extravagant as it was, King Yami noticed none of this.
He paced his huge room, thinking or, more to the point, scheming. Putting Bakura in charge of penalizing the two new prisoners had not been a good idea, Yami thought. He moved too hastily. Earlier, there had been a release of Angelic magic large enough to challenge Bakura's own Demonic magic. He hadn't ever felt such a powerful Angelic presence. Kaiba, his advisor, burst through the doors to his throne room only moments later declaring that he had long suspected that Bakura's little pet was, in fact, a prince. There was only one other prince besides Bakura, Yami had realized excitedly.
Angels didn't want conflict, or their king didn't want conflict. Either way, they would want peace. They would want to negotiate. And he, Yami, had the leverage needed to make the Angels agree to whatever conditions he wanted. He'd had their heir. The very cute, very fragile and very much loved Angelic prince was in his domain. He slammed his fist into the bedpost. And, blessit He had let his own bloodthirsty heir hand out the punishment. Bakura was such a fool! They could've had the Angelic king groveling at their feet but Bakura had to condemn the blessed prince to death by beheading.
Yami growled, low in his throat. Mai had been a spy. He knew that Mai hadn't been pleased with his plans of invading the Angelic Realm. How could he not when she all but pitched a fit in the council room about his "testosterone-pumped ego" and "male-driven need to possess everything in sight?" Even then, Yami had marked it off as one of those random and highly exaggerated fits females were prone to have. She was his highest ranking army official. She was in charge of all the warriors, for crying out loud. He had been sure she'd seen reason. Instead, she allied herself with the Angels.
Things were not going as planned. He didn't know how much information Mai had fed to the enemy yet. Thankfully, even she didn't know much about his and Kaiba's planning. After all, the military's job was to follow his orders without questioning. They needn't know the why's of any given situation. The only necessary information was the how's and when's, and they were always provided those useful tidbits.
Yami paused in his agitated pacing. He cold ruby eyes darted to his bed. Bakura was more powerful than he had anticipated, also, and, while potentially dangerous to him, it was the only good bit of news he had heard so far. Last night, after Bakura had sent the Angelic heir off to the dungeons, he had gone into a destructive frenzy. Bakura had proceeded to demolish everything in his room. He had lost all sense of reason, once again, in such a short amount of time. It took both Yami, Kaiba, and Kaiba's apprentice, Noa, to sedate the berserk Bakura. Yami grinned.
He remembered a massacre that happened a few decades ago. Kul Elna was a small village of impoverished Demons and Mortals. It had been on the outskirts of his kingdom, bordering Lord Marik's land. It hadn't bothered him too much when he heard that every living creature in the village had been brutally murdered. They were trash, useless filth unnecessary in a grand kingdom such as his. Even so, if it had been Lord Marik who had done this, it was reason enough to go forth and take his lands away from him. King Yami soon found himself flying with a small battalion of his best warriors, Mai among them, to the ruins of Kul Elna. What he saw was savagery beyond all that he had ever dreamed. The entire village was little less than a splotch of red from the sky. These people hadn't been murdered. They had been thoughtlessly ripped apart and torn to shreds. There was not a single in tact body in sight. Some of his warriors became sick and faint.
Mai was visibly shaken, though she still managed to keep her powerful stride as they searched the—could it even be called a village?—gravesite. What could've done this? Yami wondered in awe. To own such a weapon, he could conquer the Mortal Realm without a war. It was then he found that the cause of the destruction hadn't left. A small boy with bloodied pale hair and red, harried eyes was busy tearing a small Mortal child's long deceased carcass into strips. The boy was muttering to himself, as if in a trance. "Die, die, death. Disgusting Mortals. Sick and dirty. Impure Demons. Pathetic and weak. Death, die. The unworthy breathing my air. Unacceptable." What started as muddled whispers had escalated to mad shrieks. Small, gnarled hands worked furiously at the small body until it was nothing more than a pulp. His voice quieted, breathing hard and heavy. The boy swayed slightly, but other than that, his limbs were completely still.
One of the Demons Yami had brought along gagged, grabbing the boy's attention. The red in the boy's eyes receded, allowing the whites to show. He looked around slowly as tears began to fall, leaving trails in the wet blood that smudged his face. He looked at his hands that still had pieces of flesh. The boy sobbed. "I'm sorry—didn't mean to—they, I—screaming—wanted to stop but I." Mai had been the first to move. The boy's shoulders shook uncontrollably has Mai scooped him up, seeming to forget that only seconds ago the boy had been gleefully digging into a dead body for its bones. The boy had passed out shortly after.
Yami made him heir almost immediately and kept Bakura under his wing, away from Mai's motherly hands. He couldn't have her weakening him. And she hadn't, Yami thought. Bakura always passed out after a bloodthirsty trance such as the one he suffered during massacre of Kul Elna. He'd been out for a week and a half that time. He set the innocent looking boy onto the Mortal Realm where the boy then left its main, and most powerful, city unrecognizable, killing the Mortal leader and council in the process. Bakura had been out of commission for five days, leaving Yami to walk into the Mortal Realm and take charge swiftly.
Yami sent him out more and more as Bakura grew older and Bakura would fall into a comatose state for less and less time, until it reached it's peak yesterday where he hadn't even fainted before returning to his original state of mind only to go berserk hours later.
Through his musings of times past, Yami had an epiphany. As he had mentioned before, Angels were peaceful, willing to negotiate, but more importantly they didn't know their prince was condemned to death. They were to make the announcement publicly today, in order to have the beheading tomorrow. He summoned a servant to deliver the message to Kaiba. They would withhold the announcement until much later. He glanced over again at his bed where Bakura lay in a magically-induced unconsciousness. The Angelic king wouldn't risk leaving his prince in Yami's hands any longer than necessary. He'd travel into the Mortal Realm himself to oversee any negotiations necessary to have his prince returned. That was the one thing Yami and the Angelic king had in common, beside appearance. They both were actively involved in everything under their rule.
The Angelic King will leave the safety of his realm, taking his strongest Angels with him, and thus leaving the Angelic Realm open for attack. Yami's eyes gleamed. Perfect, absolutely perfect. He winced suddenly, hand reaching up to apply pressure to his temple. Sharp eyes flickered over to Bakura. Keeping the Demonic heir unconscious was tiring. The constant outpour of magic was going to leave him weak. Yami forced more magic onto his stirring heir, making the white-haired Demon still once again. It will be worth it, Yami told himself. Risks needed to be taken in order to achieve his goal. The moment Bakura wakes up, he'll start destroying anything in sight. Placed in the appropriate location, Bakura could very well single-handedly give Yami the Angelic Realm.
Sighing tiredly, Yami sat down on a plush chair. All he had to do was wait patiently for the opportune moment.
The guard trudged towards the cells, ignoring the Demon-traitor as she threw every insult she could think of at him. The guard turned his attention to the Angel with the oddly angled wing. He was unaware of the Angel's importance, and he didn't much care. It was only an Angel, after all was said and done. If the king didn't want his immediate death, well, that was the king's business.
"Angel. Your beheading has been delayed." He walked away as suddenly as he arrived.
Mai tried to talk to the Angel again, but it was no use. Ryou wasn't responding to anything. His green eyes were completely vacant. It was almost as if he was asleep with his eyes wide open.
"Ryou! Ryou, honey, don't do this. We have to get you out of here. Snap out of it! Think of your future kingdom. Are you going to abandon it, just like that? When your kingdom most needs you?" Mai pleaded. Ryou didn't even turn to look at Mai. If only she could reach out and touch him!
Ryou sat on the dirty floor limply, head bowed, and wings sprawled awkwardly behind him. Pale hands lay on the floor motionlessly, legs bent and still. If it wasn't for his soft, barely-there breathing, Mai would've thought him dead. Mai scowled. The Ryou she knew wouldn't just give up like this. He had a fighting spirit, when he was pushed to the limit and had his loved ones threatened. Something was wrong. Ryou was better than this, there had to be something wrong, but what could she do?
HelplessUseless.
Hopeless.
She felt like crying.
TBC
Jaazi: Look, it's an update! And I finished it before the deadline Luna-Dearest set me. If you visit my profile, you'll see I left a link for my LiveJournal account. I'm going to try to use that to keep you all informed about my progress on the fics. So check it out.
KK: You've reached the end of the chapter! You know what that means!
DJ: Yeah, review if you ever want another update ever again! Though, personally, the author does not deserve it because she sucks at updating anyway.
Jaazi: Again with the beautiful words of encouragement. sulk)