Author's Notes: I don't know why I'm writing angst pieces. Maybe because a fluffy one has yet to reach me. Why are my OTPs tragic, and why do some of them feel like rebounds (I'm looking at you Ushio & Mikage although I love you guys together)? ARGH 5DS WHY YOU DO THIS? You could say it's slightly Alternate Universe, or wishful thinking! Divine isn't dead, Carly's not dead, and so on and so on. Also I apologize for lame chapter titles. Enjoy! First multi-chaptered fic of 2009!

Disclaimer: I, Nero, do not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, it belongs to their respective owners. I'm just borrowing the characters.

Webs

Parings: Multiple Pairings

Rating: T-M

Summary: In a tangled web some people weave, does anybody wind up escaping happy? Or are they just prey for the spiders?

Part One: Divine Roses

Divine had weaved a web, he weaved it of the finest silk and hung it out in the open. He was King of the Arcadia Movement, trapping countless numbers in between the fine, sticky strands.

Number One hundred and twenty five. That was his lucky number.

Never had he met such a tormented soul, a person who believed she was nothing more than a monster. Parents abandoned her the day her 'gift' showed itself, they tried to restrain it, make it disappear. Divine would have none of that; he would control that power, show her that her gift was not a curse, it was a special blessing.

When she walked into the web, getting herself caught in the threads, she willingly encased herself in it even more.

Aki Izayoi was such a beautiful woman. The Black Rose Witch was such a beautiful woman.

Slowly, but surely, Divine had become Aki's sacred, cherished place. No one could take it away from her, if they tried they would surely meet their doom.

The strings had been cut by one Yuusei Fudo.

Divine had seen it all, how Yuusei had told Aki that she had to think for herself, that she had to love herself before anyone else. Since that moment, her powers had faltered.

Fearing that Aki really would leave him, he tried to wrap his hold around her even more, trying to keep business before any kind of pleasure. Soon she started seeking reassurance from him. She wanted Divine to reassure her that he would always think for her, that Yuusei was wrong. Aki had thrown herself into his arms, and all Divine did was hold her for a moment.

"Divine…"

Her voice had been so soft, fragile, broken. The way it had been when he hugged her during their first duel. Divine wanted her just the way she was, he told her she was fine as he kissed her and proceeded to remove her clothes. He always whispered in her ear, "Aki, you're fine just the way you are…" over and over again.

He told her this every single night, every single time they shared his bed, every single time he had stripped her down and kissed her on every exposed piece of skin.

Every single night, Aki told Divine she loved him.

It was easy to play along, easy to weave the silk around her, especially when you felt nothing but triumphant every single time.

Divine just didn't have any idea that all the webs he weaved would eventually lead to his demise.

Yuusei Fudo had become a constant in Aki's life, despite her being under the watchful eyes of the Arcadia Movement. Yuusei had cut each and every one of the strings Divine wove around Aki, and he opened up the door to the heart the other man had shut.

Aki began to love herself, and Yuusei began to put words in her ear. Aki had started to think for herself, welcomed back her parents into her life and made friends. Aki had declined sleeping with him and slept in her own bed and dreamt about Yuusei. Divine couldn't tell her she was 'fine the way she was' any longer because it wouldn't be the truth. The new Aki Izayoi was nothis Aki. She was her own person who could think and feel all on her own.

The final string had been cut when Aki told Divine she was moving out of the lavish building that stood in the middle of Neo-Domino City.

However, Yuusei didn't cut the last string to the web he weaved around Aki.

It was Aki herself.