Story: Halcyon and Rhapsodize
Chapter: 4
Title: Knights Of Fire And Earth
Series: YU-GI-OH!
Author: Kineticfairy

Disclaimer: renounce legal right: to renounce a legal claim or right to something. I have no legal claims on the creations of Kazuki Takahasi and now the story…

The Trails were far from over. Téa sat back down, thinking over what had happened, monstrous creatures that even she couldn't have thought up had appeared from nowhere in particular. She put her hands to her face and breathed, somehow this was almost too much. The yearning to go home, to normalcy was rising. She sighed heavily and rose her head as she found her hands being pulled from her face. He had the warmest smile she had even seen and he just made her feel somehow that they had always been long time friends. His hair was long, covering ears and neck, a sandy blond that matched his tender amber colored eyes. "Lady Goddess. My name is Joseph Wheeler. It is my sworn duty to make sure you, our highest Goddess is safe from all harm for Pym's sake, I shall lay down my life in your name." she soundlessly gasped as he rose, releasing her hands. Serenity quickly rose and wrapped her arms around the retreating boy.

"Oh, Joseph, please be careful!" she cried, squeezing her arms tighter. He held her waist and laughed, trying to push the girl off. Téa watched in wonderment, having earlier be scolded for holding the Prince in the same manner. He pulled her off, pushing her arms down, pinning her wrist to her thighs. He smiled at her and she looked down, blushing apologetically.

"The worst that could happen is I'm rejected by my anima and wounded. I won't be killed." he let go of her wrists and smoothed back her hair and bent a kiss to her forehead. "I'll be all right, sis." he turned and headed back down the stairs on which he had climbed up on. Téa looked up at Serenity who was wiping away stray tears, she laughed and sat back down.

"He's right." she laughed again, sniffling. "He'll be fine. He'll be your Knight. I feel so sorry for Mai." she hiccupped and covered her mouth, apologizing for her sudden outburst. She did it again and covered her mouth with both hands, laughing as more tears freely spilled down her cheekbones. Téa put two comforting hands on the Healer's shoulders and she smiled at her. "Oh, I'm all worried, that's all." she said between hiccups, touching The Void's wrists. Téa nodded, and looked over towards where Seto and Yami and previously fought their "animas" she giggled and put her head on Serenity's shoulder.

"So that's your brother, hmm? He's very handsome." Serenity gave Téa a glare and Téa laughed. "He gives you this feeling of comfort and warmth, like I've known him all my life." she touched one hand between the top of her breasts and laughed. "Like a big brother, or an old bodyguard." Serenity wrinkled her nose and shook her head. Joseph approached the rising pillar that held a blood red axe with silver blades. He grabbed the handle of the two headed axe. "It's beginning." Téa muttered and clamped hard on Serenity's hand. She turned her head away, missing the arrival of the fire creature when she noted Seto leaning against the wall, leading into the so obviously abandoned tower. His face looked curved with annoyance. Flames brought her attention back to the mêlée. She drew in a breath at the sight of the creature. It resembled a sort of dog that stood on hide legs and wore a red breechcloth with golden rings on a brown rope. It had thick black claws. Sharp ivory teeth that were exposed when it let out a tremendous bay. Its slanted eyes gleamed red and yellow as it stared down its foe, its body covered from head to toe in dark auburn hair, long ebony horns protruded from the top of the skull, above small flat ears that donned golden earrings. It wasn't scary… Téa thought it was one of the most beautiful of the animas. She pried her hands from Serenity's and she watched. This would be the fight she really paid attention too. Her blue eyes widen as it used its front legs as arms, swiping at Joseph for a fatal wound. The blond rolled away, evading in the long run most of the anima's attacks. Téa stood slowly and edged over to Seto, while the rest paid the Goddess no mind. "What do you know?"

"What do you mean? What do I know about the fight? The anima?"

"The anima… everything." she said, her hand reaching out and clutching at his elbow, to make sure he was there. Seto didn't care as much as she did about the fight so his attention was drawn to her hand that was resting on his elbow. His lips parted, not understanding what was happening here.

"This is Ifrit, spawned from the oldest of fires Ifrit is a fire-based anima Ifrit is the second most powerful class of Jinn and can change into any animal they wish. The Jinn's are Demon-like beings who have fire running through their veins. When they are cut they bleed out fire until it consumes their whole body. Jinn's can live for thousands of years even forever, but they are in no ways immortal for they fear the falling stars that the Devil throws at them. "Ifrit's got an incredibly high strength to start out with, but his defense and magic certainly leave something to be desired. Ifrit can also use any of his fire magic to heal himself." All of that seemed so interesting, Seto Kaiba obviously knew much about what they referred to as their destinies. She watched Ifrit speed over to Joseph, swiping his hands back and forth, twisting around, back legs off the ground, snarling, dropping down on front legs and bucking his head, plowing into Joseph. Her fingers flexed around Seto's elbow when fire shot from a glowing red orb within the palms of the fire anima's paws. "You think we beat them easily don't you? The way I make them sound so strong." Téa peeked up at Seto, missing the powerful swing Joseph took at Ifrit, the swing made him turn in a small circle, the creature or Jinn… jumping back to avoid the blow.

"Well… yes."

"Well, you're wrong." he stated simply, turning to watch the fight again, she narrowed her eyes, watching Joseph closely again. Ifrit jumped backwards as Joseph advanced, taking huge swings, his arms coming straight down. The axe must have been very heavy for his arms. "Its because of you that… that we defeat our anima so easily. Your faith, take someone without your confidence… they would surely die."

"Die? No, Joseph said that their were no deaths."

"In Trails, yes, but if they were just defending themselves… surely their adversaries would depart this life." her hand was still on his elbow and he found it funny how he didn't mind. Joseph fell backwards, but he rolled over and blocked the attack with the blade of his axe. He swung, getting to his feet.

"Cyclone Axe!" He swung around and the blade took off in a green aura, turning to flames and nailing Ifrit in the chest. The great beast fell backwards, its head reared back, letting out an anguished cry. But it did not vanish like the other's had when the Knight cried out their special attacks. Seto looked down at Téa, eyes reflecting confusion. Joseph himself seemed befuddled by this action. He jumped back as Ifrit's huge clawed paw came crashing down, missing his foot. Ifrit, pulled its body up and howled, blasting another flame aura at the boy. Joseph dodged, getting caught in the shoulder, seared painfully. He fell to his knees, clutching arm and dropping axe. Serenity rose from her seat and over to the railing, calling out her brother's name.

"What are you doing?" Seto demanded, grabbing Téa by the elbows. She didn't tear her gaze from Joseph, only watched in complete horror, worried for the Jinn and the potential Knight. Her mouth agape as he was hit again, this time blood pooled from his legs. "Stop it, stop now!" Seto demanded her and Serenity looked from her brother and saw what Seto himself saw. No wind blew across Serenity's face or Seto's or any other person's for that matter. Only did this invisible wind blow across and around Téa. Her sigil glowed brightly on her forehead, whirling around, her eyes empty of all emotion save fear. Seto shook her, but… nothing happened. Serenity, looked back to see her brother, bleeding profoundly, reaching for his Elemental Weapon. Serenity gulped and glared in Téa's direction. Storming over to The Void, Serenity pushed Seto away and clashed her hand hard against Téa's soft cheek, making a resounding "smack" sound. All who were not locked in toe to toe combat stared at the healer as the Goddess pressed her hand to her cheek, wincing when she made contact.

"Ow…" Téa moaned, holding both hands to her cheek which was quickly reddening.

"Desperation Blow!" was heard from across the ancient courtyard and Ifrit was devoured by flames and pulled into the ruby that laid between the twin blades that laid back to back on his axe. Serenity rushed down to the courtyard to aide her brother. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and cried, pushing away and scrounging in her medic's bag, tears flowing freely as she did so, her brother's arm winding around her. Téa sunk to the floor and bowed her head, her face stung from the aggressive contact and she suddenly felt coldness against her burn. It was Seto… in his hand he held a cold metal gauntlet and he smirked.

"What were you thinking? Did you really want the anima to win?" she searched his indigo blue eyes with her own sapphire eyes and she shrugged helplessly, grimacing from the returning pain. "This will keep it from swelling." she heard footsteps behind her and she didn't dare turn from the substitute ice-pack. Yami was now kneeling in front of her.

"Are-are you all right?" he asked. She nodded and apologized.

"I don't know what came over me… I just, I didn't want to see the anima die." Yami gave her a heart-warming smile and put his hand on her shoulder.

"No need to worry." he said, that boyish smile not leaving his face for a second. "Listen, the anima cannot die in a Trail. In a Trail, the anima are like an illusion, not really here." She blinked, she had been so worried about the survival of Ifrit that she had let harm befall Joseph. "You weren't so concerned with the other's… why is this one so special?" he asked, helping her to her feet. Téa thanked him and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't… I'm not sure, but I was really worried." she pushed away from the boys tending to her and hurried to where Joseph was, arm draped over his sister's shoulder, limping to his horse where the man she had seen with Prince Yugi when she first arrived was waiting with a pouch of water. Serenity dealt her a death glare and Téa swallowed the air in through her nose and approached the limping Knight. "I'm so sorry, this was all my fault." He looked at her, his sister's grip tightening on his arm, he removed her arm.

"What are ya talking about?" he asked taking the water pouch and unstoppered it. He took a swig and lowered himself carefully to the ground.

"It was my fault, anyone could account for that, ask your sister, she hit me for it. I'm sorry." His eyes narrowed and he looked up over at his sister, who blushed furiously. "Oh, no, it was a good thing, it got me out of my trance, she saved you."

"No, she didn't. She laid hand on The Void. Serenity how could you? I told ya I wouldn't die! Now I'll go through the rest of my life not knowing if I wasn't meant to be the Fire Knight." Serenity's eyes began to water as her brother turned face. Téa got on her knees and touched his hands.

"I know you were meant for this. I let my fears and worries for the anima get in my way of allowing you a fair fight, I put my faith in the anima. I don't know why, but I'm so very sorry." she clapped her hands together in apology and he worked up a smile, one that gave her the feeling of home.

"Forgive me, I worry about you. Serenity, come here." She fell to her knees teary eyed and he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight and laughing. She cried harder at his generous actions. Téa smiled at the obvious love they held for each other and she rose, dusting her skirt off, when she was suddenly approached. He took hold of her hand and knelt in front of her, laughing as he did so.

"I feel old, kneeling." he said and then looked up at her with his chocolate dark eyes. "However, I, Tristan Taylor will make sure that forever will you be protected, that no evil will befall you, for you are the Goddess, The Void, the one who will protect Pym from any evil that wishes her doom." he kissed her hand and then rose, holding onto his hip and smiling.

"Are you injured?" she wondered as he began to make his way towards the arena. Yami and Seto were coming down the steps, Seto a few steps ahead of the Prince.

"No, not really, just sore. I much prefer walking to riding." he laughed again and continued on his way.

"Hey! Joseph? Are you all right?" Yami asked, kneeling next to his friend. He inspected his leg and compliment Serenity on her skills. She thanked him and Téa glanced at Seto as he took his place next to her.

"You move around a lot." she giggled at his observation and he gave her a slightly baffled look and she explained that she had so much energy even more so when she was worried, she explained her passion from when she was but a little girl, how she longed to dance, but he seemed uninterested and she drew her attention back to the new fight. Tristan was approaching his Elemental Weapon. "The Fangs of Baelin. Baelin, a great fanged beast created by the Dark One to guard his treasure hoards. When a Baelin was slain in battle, the fangs were removed and used as weapons because of their great strength and paralyzing power. The handle of these rare weapons was formed from parts of the Baelin's armor plates and spine. The armor of a dead Baelin had the unique ability to fuse itself together, allowing it to be used to create sturdy weapons." Its overall length couldn't have been more than seven to three-fourth inches, the blade length itself: four and seven-eighth inches and the thickness of the blade five and thirty-two inches. Two in each hand, Tristan positioned himself in a fighting stance and Seto grabbed her elbow pushing her back a little, the horses stamped their hooves against the ground and Serenity called Mako over to tether the horses somewhere safer and away from her injured brother. The very ground began to shake and Téa searched, was it an earthquake or an anima?

Tristan's face formed a smile and just the way the pillar had appeared before him so did this… "Golems." He said now, his voice still low and gravelly. "Golems are magically created automatons of great power. Constructing one involves the employment of mighty magic and elemental forces. The animating force for a Golem is a spirit from the Elemental Plane of Earth. The process of creating the Golem binds the unwilling spirit to the artificial body and subjects it to the will of the Golem's creator." Huge was this Golem of stone, it took the form of a body with legs, arms and a head with gleaming yellow eyes, rocks formed to look like fingers it slowly advanced on Tristan, she wondered how his weapons made for close combat would harm such a enormous creature. "Golems are tenacious in combat and prodigiously strong as well. Being mindless, they do nothing without orders from their creators. They follow instructions explicitly and are incapable of any strategy or tactics. They are emotionless in combat and cannot be provoked.

"A Golem's creator can command it if the Golem is within sixty feet and can see and hear its creator. If without commands, a Golem usually follows its last instruction to the best of its ability, though if attacked it returns the attack. The creator can give the Golem a simple command to govern its actions in his or her absence. The Golem's creator can order the Golem to obey the commands of another person, who might in turn place the Golem under someone else's control, and so on, but the Golem's creator can always resume control over his creation by commanding the Golem to obey him alone." Seto seemed to know more about Golems than he did about Ifrit, she stated so. "I do, Ifrit is rarer, Golems have written documents on them, Ifrit is little spoken of." he folded his arms across his chest and looked to his side as his younger brother came to stand by him. "Be careful, Mokuba." the dark hair boy nodded and smiled and waved at Téa, who waved nervously back.

Tristan started to run to the back of the Golem delivering critical hits to the back of the legs, it took a few seconds for the Golem to swing around, bringing its arm down for a punch, Tristan jumped back, pain shooting up each nerve in his legs, he winced but managed to get to the back of the Golem. "Golems have immunity to most magical and supernatural effects. This might be the longest battle, his sigil attacks might not work." Téa blue eyes widened and she brushed aside her wind blown brown hair.

Indeed this battle was turning out to be the longest. Serenity herself had found herself sleeping soundly against her brother's shoulder and Joseph, Seto and Yami each sat with The Void speaking commenting on the fight and watching its progress. Tristan was doing exceptionally well as Seto grudgingly noted, she sensed that he didn't really care for the presence of others, but smiled once in a while when his brother, Mokuba spoke. Tristan jumped onto the pillar that had once held his weapons, he jumped again and with a powerful blow he slammed the blade of his weapons into the Golem and at last it wobbled and fell over, crumbling into stone and when a yellow gleaming eye was all that was left it levitated and embedded itself onto Tristan's forehead, making him cry out in agony and he dropped to his knees, blood oozing from the wound. His cries awakened Serenity and she got to her feet immediately and ran over with the others. Solomon himself was coming down the steps with Lord Pegasus. Serenity shoved Tristan's hands from his face and she dabbed a cloth against the blood. "Shush now, its all right, it'll heal nicely." she smoothed her fingers over his forehead and hugged him before getting out a bandage to wrap around his forehead.

"Well done, Sir Tristan, Master Seto, Sir Joseph and Prince Yami. All has ended as it sound, you are the elemental Knights!" exhausted and in much pain from the fusing of the stone to his forehead Tristan's head dropped to Serenity's shoulder. "Ha-ha, let the man ride with us for his troubles. Lord Pegasus, I take it this is where you depart with us?"

"I'm sorry to say it is so. I must get back to my manor. I'm very happy to see that you four have past, I have a present for Sir Tristan when he awakens, my very best wine." he handed over a beautiful bottle that reminded Téa of a genies bottle, its jade casting gleamed in the dusk light of the sun.

"Thank you and farewell. Let us return for celebration!" he instructed Mako to un-tether the horses and help Tristan to the carriage. He hugged his grandson again and smiled, slapping him gently on the face. "I'm so proud of you, Yugi will be too." Yami smiled and thank his grandfather once more before they moved on.

Téa herself yawned and stretched secretly. Seto approached her and she smiled at him. "You'll be there right? Congratulations." he took her hand and her smile faded and her heartbeat quickened. He enclosed her hand in both of his and bowed.

"Thank you for your faith." he slowly withdrew her hand from both of his and lifted Mokuba off his feet, the eleven year old boy waved again at her with a huge grin.

"Come on, let's go home." Serenity said, covering a yawn. "I don't think I'll attended the celebrations very long… I'm tried." she smiled and took hold off Téa's hand. "I'm sorry, for striking you." She giggled and pulled Téa towards the carriage on which they had arrived. Téa found herself dozing off, she, too, was tired from the excitement and length of each trail, each of the young man had succeeded and it was a nice feeling to see a goal achieved, but sad to see a waste of perfectly handsome men forfeit their entire love life to their destiny, she wasn't as brave as them, she realized, she would have fought tooth and nail to make sure that she was allowed a love life, here however it was thrust upon her. None of these men wanted anything emotionally to do with her, for they chose the life of celibacy.

It was dark again and she was alone, there was no background, no sky or grass or even ground, she stood in the shadows, one by one they appeared before her. Leviathan, Ifrit, Golem and the Unnamed. No, not the Unnamed. It had a name, a name she knew and spoke in her dream world. Zephyr. They stood before her, staring, loyal. Her forehead began to glow brightly and they rose their heads, staring past her and she turned to see what it was. Eyes loomed in the sky of a deep violet color, they resembled Yami's eyes, but there was something in that stare that was not occupied in the Princes eyes. Hate, anger… something that made her shake in fear. The sound of whooshing and great inhuman cries made her spin around to see black ooze pooling up over the anima. Téa covered her mouth as the word: no escaped her lips. She ran toward them, one buy one a purple fire ignited disintegrating Leviathan, Ifrit, Zephyr and Golem! Her Sigil, too, burst into a flame of rainbows and her body was consumed, she screamed. Trashing wildly she felt hands on her and she opened her eyes too see Yami trying to subdue her. He soothed her, air hissing through teeth. She slowly stopped thrashing and clung to him, Serenity words of earlier absent from her mind. Slowly he wrapped her up in his strong arms and he rested his cheek against her soft feathery hair. "Its all right, Téa. It was only a bad dream."

"It seemed so real." Téa whimpered against his chest, her cheek moving against the fabric of his shirt, she was shaking violently, the dream still so fresh in her mind, her fingers curled around the loose fabric and she dared not close her eyes in fear of seeing the deaths again. "Yami! Yami, its not fair!" she cried, tears filling her eyes and he tightened his hold a little more, wishing he could stop the shaking that occupied her small body. He sighed, she felt him sigh and she listened to his erratic heartbeat and she finally closed her eyes, tears falling down onto their chest. She was peaceful now, wrapped up in his arms. "I'm sorry." she whispered, clinging tighter to him as he began to stroke his fingers over her hair.

"It's fine." he soothed and pulled away, she was able to see now that she was still inside the carriage. "Grandsir said it would be fine if you slept in here as long as someone stood watch, would you like to attend the celebration now?" she fought the urge to kiss him with a nod. Yami took her hand and helped her out of the carriage, "Here, dry your eyes." she gave a shaky sigh as his hands came up and he thumbed away her tears, she looked at him expectantly and he smiled reassuring. "There, you look as though you haven't shed a single tear tonight." she smiled as he took her hand and escorted her into the Palace, leading her into the gardens where he had given her first kiss. The gardens were filled with more people than she had previously seen when she first arrived. "Lady Gardener!" a familiar voice cried out and she was greeted by the twin brother. "It's good to see you again, please mingle and enjoy. Would you like some wine? You must be hungry?" without allowing her a word in Yugi rushed off to get her food and drink, Yami smiled.

"Yugi's right, you should mingle. Excuse me." she nodded as he parted from her side. Téa walked around on his advice, but didn't talk, mostly people stared at her, faintly whispering that she was "The great Void". Feeling paranoid she continued walking around the cool gardens, further from the crowds of strangers.

"I'm glad you weren't seriously hurt." she heard a woman say.

"Naw, its just a flesh wound." Was that…?

"Don't try to be funny." Téa peeped over the side of the hedge to see a beautiful flow of golden locks and a bounteousness purple dress and Joseph.

"Hey! Don't cry." Joseph pleaded, bringing his hand up to touch her face.

"Oh, Joseph!" she clung to him and he closed his eyes, holding her the way Yami had held Téa earlier. "I hate this! I love you, this isn't fair!" Love? Did she say she loved him?