Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ This Is Now and That Was Before ❯ Playing The Way You Play ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter Warnings: a bit of cursing, polytheism, slight angst, flashback-stuff, maybe a hint of Ryou/Bakura, not much really... ^.^;

Full Story Summary: Cursed to wander the four corners of the earth, trapped eternally in an endless circle of incarnations in which he remembers all that is past. It all sprang from one forbidden taste of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and now Jounouchi Katsuya must find redemption and grace in the unlikeliest of places -- a single, tainted human.

Many Thanks Go Out To: Kitsune Hashiba, Blue Lagoon Loon, BluJay, Alowl, Tetsuo-Shima, RyogazGal, The 7th Toraphim, Taito-kisses, the anonymous reviewer, daisy (and her yami), Synchronized Love, Hyatt Insomnia, Li, Lady Geuna, Gothic Anime Gal, and Demonic Angel for all the lovely reviews! I really appreciate it, minna! *grins*

Oh, and for those of you who complained about how Seto was so mean to Jou-- I'm trying to keep them as IC as possible for as long as possible; besides, Seto doesn't know Jou yet. If this had somehow been set in the show, maybe Seto would have saved him without so much pushing from Mokuba-chan, hm?

... Or not. -.-;

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This Is Now and That Was Before

Chapter One: Playing The Way You Play

It had taken them months to reach this place; this palace of the High Beings, the Gods' House. Months of harsh climes and quiet suffering, of dwindling hope as each day crawled by; fading hope of ever making it in time.

It stood before them, like some majestic painting of gold, brilliant hues sparkling in the light of the midmorning sun. Sapphire, ruby, amber, cobalt, emerald; all these colors and more shone in Jou's vision, and for one breathless moment he gaped in wonder and awe. It was... simply magnificent. Unearthly.

"Big Brother? Are you alright?"

Then he came crashing back to drab reality, and he flushed, guilt flooding through him at the thought that he had almost forgotten why they had come here in the first place.

"Yeah, Shizuka, 'm fine. Nuttin' ta worry 'bout." Jounouchi Katsuya dredged up a half-hearted grin in the face of his little sister's worry, turning to glace back up at the majestic palace after a moment. "So. Guess this's it, huh?"

Shizuka nodded, reaching up to catch his bigger hand in her own, a move that brought a wave of nostalgia to the surface of the blonde's emotions and caused his breath to hitch at the childish adoration she showed him. Even after all the hardships they had suffered together, after all the promises broken and injuries taken, she still looked up to him as she always had. It touched him to think about it, every time.

Jou smiled down at his little sister and gave her small hand a reassuring squeeze, amber gaze flicking to the hard-won stones he held so protectively in his other hand. They were hardly more than large pebbles, but they had a supernatural glow about them, shining in the most brilliant shades of crimson, cobalt, emerald, and amber he'd ever seen in his life, those colors topped only by the ones of the palace that lay before him now.

The called it the Center Sight, this house of the Gods', because it lay at the very center of the land, at the center of the four Lower Palaces of the North, East, South and West. It was a veritable feat upon itself to try and enter such a place as this, for anyone who dared must first travel to each of the Lower Palaces and pass four challenges given to them by the High Ones who dwelled there. Each challenge was specifically crafted for the one who would take it, and each was designed to test the strength of a virtue. Upon surmounting each challenge, Jou had been presented with a stone, which he had been told would prove that he was worthy to be let into the Golden Palace.

Red... was for love... to prove his love for Shizuka...

Blue... for devotion... that he would do anything for her...

Green... was trust... a test not of his trust for her, but of his trust in himself... a difficult task indeed...

And amber, the same shade as his eyes... the faith that he had in his little sister, and in the result of their journey...

"Welcome, travelers!"

Jou's inner musing was abruptly shortened by the booming, feminine voice that echoed throughout the palace and reached the siblings' ears in a clear, ringing tone. As if commanded, the titanic shimmering gates the two had paused in front of groaned, slowly swinging open in an agonizingly tedious movement that set the blond's senses on alert for anything-- or anyone-- that he might lay eyes on beyond these strangely forbidding structures.

The strangely surreal sound of the twin gates grinding into an open position crashed noisily through the high-ceilinged entrance hall that was revealed past the opened doorway, but Jou's attention was immediately grabbed and kept by the lone figure that almost seemed to glide gracefully down the hall towards him and his little sister.

As the figure came closer, amidst an unnatural silence that was only vaguely noted by Jounouchi's subconscious, the blond youth realized that it was a female; tall and graceful, wearing flowing white robes and jet-black hair done up in an insanely intricate style that almost made it seem like it was alive against her head.

When the regal and strangely beautiful woman reached the pair waiting on the giant doorstep, she graced them both with a small smile as she took in their appearances with her dark gaze.

"Foreigners, I bid you welcome," she greeted, voice smooth and oddly relaxing. "I am Ishizuu, patron Goddess of Wine, Fertility, and Faith. [1] You, young mortals, may call me Isis, if you wish." And she awarded them with another of her eloquent smiles, tilting her head marginally in a gesture of welcome and invitation. "Welcome to the House of the Gods, the Center Sight."

She paused then, a silence that descended on them quickly, and after a moment of confused tension on Jou's part he realized that he was most likely supposed to introduce themselves and tell of their business there.

"Eh... Thanks," he grinned sheepishly at Isis' lone raised eyebrow, and the knowing look that sparkled mischievously behind her eyes. "Uh... 'M Katsuya Jounouchi, and this' my little sis, Shizuka. She's the reason we're here, actually."

Smiling, Isis inclined her head towards him and Shizuka in a move of acceptance. "As strange as this may seem to you, I happen to know all about you, Katsuya Jounouchi-- and of your quest. I think, perhaps, we may even know a few things that you yourself do not yet know."

Jou blinked. "'We'...?"

"Yes." Isis' eyes gained a mysterious glitter, but she did not elaborate on her cryptic response, instead turning towards the path from where she had come. "If the both of you will please follow me...? I believe you may find what you are looking for in here."

With a challenging snort at all the mysticism the lady was putting on, the blond obliged, but paused when his movement caused the jewels in his clenched fist to clink together. "Hey, lady? Don't ya want yer jewel-things back or nothin'?" He voluntarily held them up for her, but the elegant woman did not turn around to face him again, though she did tilt her head in acknowledgement, causing her braided rings of ebony hair to sway gently against her face.

"No, those jewels are none of my concern, young one. You are the passer of those various tests, are you not? I think perhaps you should keep them for awhile. They might be helpful in the near future."

Jou shrugged as she proceeded onward without another word. "Whateva..."

"Big Brother?" Shizuka tugged gently on his sleeve to catch his attention as he pocketed the stones.

"Yeah?"

"... Do you think this will actually work?"

For a moment, all he could do was stare at her; she had never questioned this journey before, just blindly trusted in him to pull her through everything and everything. "Uh... Sure. Sure, this'll work, Shizuka! Ya know yer big brother'd do anythin' fer ya, right?" He grinned down at her jovially, and she couldn't help but smile back up at him.

"Of course!"

"Well, all right, then! Let's go get yer eyes fixed, hm?"

"Right!"

**********

In a dark house

In a dark room

On a dark bed

Lay a boy, sunny-haired and golden-skinned, wrapped in blankets and covered with desert dust, groaning and panting in the midst of his dreams, shivering uncontrollably in the cool air. He was half-dead, saved from harsh Nature's hand only by the kindness of one young ebony-haired boy.

But even when he was barely half-alive, the dreams would not leave him.

On a stool next to that dark bed, watching attentively and at times setting a cool, damp compress onto the other's sweating forehead, was the black-haired boy, worry furrowing his brow at the sounds the blond was emitting in his deep slumber.

"Mokuba."

The boy glanced up quickly at the sound of his older brother's voice, hand still over the newly-dampened compress he had just applied.

"Go to bed. You need your rest."

Mokuba shook his head defiantly, emerald gaze darting back to rest upon his highly-unexpected patient. "He won't stop dreaming, Seto. And he's burning up. If I left him like this, he could--" the youth was cut off by a firm and unyielding hand on his shoulder.

"Bed. Now." Seto demanded, not liking at all the already-forming bruises under his younger brother's eyes. "I'll... watch over the puppy," the brown-haired youth added hesitantly at Mokuba's pleading look, smirking at the instant turnaround the simple phrase elicited in the younger boy.

"Thank you, Big Brother!" Smiling, Mokuba indulged in giving Seto a tight hug before he turned and ran off, making his way to his own small room.

Seto sighed and sat down on the stool his sibling had only recently vacated, scooting it back a bit when he found it set too close to the intruder for his own liking.

Damn it. What have I gotten myself into now? He thought wryly, glaring at the blond body who was occupying his own bed; well, he very well couldn't have let Mokuba give up his bed, now could he!

"I should have left you in the sand when I had a chance, mongrel."

His only response was a series of whimpers mostly muffled by a down pillow; a sound that soon faded away into the gray air of the room.

**********

As Jounouchi and Shizuka obediently followed their Goddess guide down the immense Great Hall, the blond youth couldn't help but let his eyes wander as they walked, taking in all the sights at once until he thought his brain would overload with the immense beauty.

"Whoa. Dis ting's HUGE!" he commented, awed as his amber gaze took in painting after exquisite painting, sparkling stained glass windows and highly-detailed carvings and statues that almost seemed like they would move on their own given the command.

"It is as it should be," replied Isis. "This is, after all, the dwelling place of the Gods. We created it, and we would not create anything that was not beautiful in our eyes." The statement was strangely laced with some sort of undercurrent of emotion that Jounouchi could not identify, though it gave the words a second meaning.

"Uh... right." Jou agreed, grinning. "Looks like we got some a tha same tastes, lady. Though all dis stuff at once really ain't my style." His broad grin widened sheepishly.

"Indeed," was the Goddess' only remark.

Soon the trio of mortal and immortal came upon two lavishly decorated doors; one carved of marble and one of a jet-black stone. The dark-haired woman paused at the first, lighter door, pushing it open the slightest bit before she turned and faced the two of them again, smiling eyes alighting upon the red-haired female at once.

"Now, young mortal, if you would be so kind as to follow me, I will show you to our physician, Otogi Ryuuji. [2] He is waiting for you just beyond these doors. We have been expecting you both for a very long time, after all." Her dark eyes softened when Shizuka glanced up at her big brother pleadingly. "I am afraid, young one, that Katsuya Jounouchi will have to wait out here for you. If you like, you may look around this place a bit more," this last was directed towards a flustered Jou, "...Or perhaps you would like a guide?"

"Uh..." Jou scratched the back of his golden head sheepishly when he realized that Isis had sensed his nervousness at wandering around this place alone. "Sure, if that all right, miss."

Isis gave him a small, unreadable smile. "Of course. You are our guests for the time being, after all. For as long as you would like, providing--" she paused. "But of course you would already know of that. Ryou!"

The Goddess gave Jou no time to comment on that last remark, for him to say that he had not known of whatever 'that' was or anything else, and the slender blond was still blinking rapidly in confusion when the darker door they had paused by opened; revealing the seemingly-frail visage of a young silver-haired male with kind chocolate eyes and a shy smile, who was wearing almost exactly the same style of robes as Isis, though his was a pale shade of sky blue instead of the pure, shimmering white the Goddess wore.

"Yes, Miss Ishtar? In what way may I assist you?" the boy inquired in a strangely lilting voice that sent weird shivers down Jou's spine. The blond ignored them.

The Goddess turned to give the smaller youth a patient look. "Ryou, I would like you to accompany Mister Katsuya Jounouchi while Otogi and myself are busy with his sister in the other room. Is that all right, or are you busy at the moment?"

The boy, obviously Ryou, blinked in confusion, then broke out into a pretty smile, reaching up with one slender hand to push a stray strand of silver-white hair behind his blue-clad shoulder as he tilted his head to gaze behind Isis and stare at Jounouchi and his sibling.

"Oh, so the mortals have indeed arrived. I had so hoped they would!" Ryou's brown eyes sparkled as he approached the two mortals and held out a hand to Jou, which the blond immediately took, regretting it when he again felt that strange bout of tingles, this time emanating form wherever the silver-haired youth's skin touched his own.

"Of course I have time for this, Ishizuu! It has been so long since we have had a new face around here, has it not? And don't worry," the boy put as a whispered aside to Jou, noticing the bit of lackluster in the normally vibrant amber eyes, "I have that effect on just about everyone." He smiled brightly as the blond's eyes widened slightly.

"Then we leave him in good hands, young one." Isis told Shizuka knowingly, turning back towards the opened door. "Come. We mustn't keep him waiting any longer."

"...All right." Shizuka acknowledged, a bit sadly. "I'll see you later, Big Brother!" she smiled brightly at Jou and turned to follow the Goddess.

"No prob!" Jou exclaimed cheerfully, winking at her.

The heavy marble door closed heavily, resoundingly, behind the pair of mortal and immortal.

And in the shadows, a pair of gleaming violet eyes watched the proceedings in malicious glee.

**********

The boy was burning up, thrashing wildly in his nightmares. And yet he still wouldn't wake up.

Seto sighed heavily and tilted the boy's dingy blond head up, managing to get most of the herbal medicine down his throat before the boy twisted out of the chestnut-haired youth's grip and the golden head fell back onto the pillow, which was now stained with sweat and dirt along with the rest of the sheets.

When the boy's head turned to face him once again Seto set another cold, damp cloth on the sweating forehead. He had told Mokuba that he would care for the boy while his younger brother rested, and he wasn't going to go back on that promise and let the pup die, if it would mean so much to the black-haired boy, even if Seto hated even the thought of the mutt in front of him.

"Shizuka..." the blond youth muttered, turning over in his sleep so that his back was to the brown-haired youth, in the process smacking Seto under the chin.

Seto sighed again, a long-suffering sound, and resisted the urge to strangle the boy.

Barely.

Mokuba would be mad, Mokuba would be mad, Mokuba would be mad...

**********

"So, your name is Katsuya Jounouchi, am I correct?" Ryou began, trying to start up a conversation as the two made their meandering way through the giant floors palace.

"Yeah. Most people call me Jou, though. You cin too, if ya want," he grinned and Ryou smiled back.

"All right, then. Jou it is." His brown eyes softened. "Now, I am sure you have things you would like to know. Can I be of any help?"

"Well..." Jounouchi thought about it for a moment. "There is one thing I cin think of..."

"And that is...?"

"... Y'see... when ya said ya 'had that effect'..." he trailed off nervously and swallowed, clearing his throat.

"Oh, that." Ryou laughed, an easy laugh that told much of his personality. "That's easy. You know I am a God, correct?" At the blond's quick nod, he continued. "Well then, that's it. It's what I am." He smiled. "I am Ryou, God of Light and Love, and of the Sky. Because I am the embodiment of Love, I get reactions like the one you experienced out of both mortals and Gods."

"Ah," was Jou's noncommittal reply, for his gaze had caught on something unusual, even in a place like this...

"My partner, Bakura, is the God of Darkness and the Earth. Because of what we are, we are the only ones that can resist each other's automatic reactions." Ryou continued. "And that's why we-- Jou? Jou, where are you?" The silver-haired boy glanced around frantically, but to no avail. Ryou grimaced.

Jou was gone. And there was only one person who had the power to lead a mortal off like that, so quickly;

"Malik."

**********

Jou's head jerked up as he thought he heard something, amber gaze taking in his surroundings in a short moment. "...Ryou?"

He received no answer, for the silver-haired God was nowhere in sight.

"Er... Ryou! Ya there?"

Still no response.

It seemed the blond was well and totally lost.

"Crap." How was he supposed to get back to Shizuka in time to meet her when she came out of that room if he had no one to show him the way around this maze of a palace?

The answer: He wasn't.

Why, why had he followed that plethora of sparkling, shimmering fairy-lights away from Ryou? Sure, it had seemed a good idea at the time-- Jounouchi halfway remembered a beckoning, softly lilting voice calling him this way-- but he hadn't really even heard anything with his ears. It must have been a trick of his overactive imagination in such a place as this, right?

Right. And now he was lost, in a place that could take a lifetime to transverse.

Well, there was always the old saying of staying in place when one was lost so that your friends could find and rescue you. And he was almost positive that Ryou had noticed his absence by now and was already looking for him. So all he had to do was sit down and wait it out until the effeminate God located him. There couldn't possibly be that many places to look, could there?

He hoped not, for his sake.

The blond sighed and looked around hopefully, noticing a small stool seemingly carved out of stone instead of made with wood, and decided it looked comfortable enough to sit himself down in until someone came and found him.

Jou hadn't been waiting there long at all when he suddenly became aware of what, exactly, that peculiar sound he had been half-hearing in the back of his mind really was. He jerked up and turned his head towards the source.

Singing! Someone was singing close by.

Well, if someone was comfortable enough to be singing around here, they probably had to belong here, right? Which meant that it was probably a God or a demigod, which in turn meant that they could lead him back to Ryou!-- or at least the door that Shizuka had gone through-- right?

Right.

Grinning in triumph at his ingenuity, Jou shot up out of his seat and followed the singing, gradually becoming aware of the words as he wandered closer and closer to it's source.

"He tempted Adam in the desert one day
'Are you the Son of God?
Turn these stones into wholesome bread
And make your hunger stop.'

Even though his hunger had grown real strong
He turned and simply replied,
'Man does not live on bread alone
But on the Word of God.'

'Return to man and worship me
And the Kings of the World are yours.'

'Away from me with your evil ways
'Cause I worship and serve only God.'

Why don't you
Skiddle-dee-doo?
'Cause I don't wanna see your face
Around here no more.

Why don't you
Skiddle-dee-doo?
'Cause this is now
And that was before..." [3]

Jou paused as he found himself in front of another set of titanic carved doors, then shrugged off the funny feeling of dread that was whirling in the pit of stomach and pushed them open.

Inside lay a wonderland.

It was a garden, shimmering and beautiful, huge and vast. Waterfalls trickled wherever the blond looked, springs both hot and cold were everywhere, and everything was a vibrant green. All sorts of flora met his wondering eyes, and everything seemed healthy and alive.

At the center of this huge greenhouse-- for this could only be the exact and truest sense of the word-- were a pair of colossal trees, towering so high that their tops were lost to the naked eye. And this was were the singing was originating from.

As Jou approached the two giant trees, he found that their appearance and fruit was also unusual-- for one tree was almost too bright to look at without shading one's eyes, while the other looked almost sickly up close, compared to the first. The shining tree held fruit of purest gold, in the shape of shining apples, and the duller one bore seeds of a pale silver that gleamed dully in comparison.

It was behind the enormous trunk of the second tree that he located the singer; it seemed to be a young boy, maybe ten or twelve years at the most, wearing another set of pure-white robes that only fell to his knees, thought the clothing was no longer white-- instead it was a dull brown from the kneeling the child was doing in the dirt, the robes littered with leaves and thin twigs. The boy's straw-colored hair gleamed cleanly against his dusky skin, however, and he seemed to be having fun, playing with a set of deep black marbles beneath the shade of the tree.

"Um..." Jou began haltingly, and that was all it took. The child looked up immediately, stared at him for a moment, then jumped up as if the ground burned him, the move was so fast, getting right into Jou's face. The blond blinked at the strange reaction and took a step back, glad when the boy didn't take one towards him in return. "...Hi?" he finished lamely, the word coming out in a squeak.

The strange child stared at him for agonizing moment, and for some reason this made Jou a bit irritated. "Look, kid. 'M lost, and lookin' for someone. I don't need ya actin' nutso, okay? Hey, and what is dis place, anyway?" his sweeping gesture encompassed everything around them.

Still, the boy did not answer, his violet eyes boring intensely into Jou's own amber gaze.

Finally, just as the blond was about to explode in a string of imaginative curses concerning the child's questionable intelligence, he spoke.

"Hii!!" the boy exclaimed, stepping forward and grabbing Jou's hand in a tight grip, pumping it erratically in a child-like greeting. The boy broke out into a brilliant smile. "You must be the humans Isis-neesan was telling everyone about!! I'm glad you made it!! Oh!!" and the boy stilled instantly from the exited movements he had just commenced.

Jou hadn't thought it was possible for someone that hyper to be that still. But it was only for a moment, and then the child became as active and full of motion as before.

"I'm Marik!! Actually, my name's Malik, but I like Marik better, don't you??" The child's grin grew wider when Jounouchi could only nod in stunned silence, and for a moment the blond was sure he saw... something... lurking behind the reflective mask of those violet eyes.

"Welcome to the Garden of Eden!!"

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[1] - Goddess of Wine and Fertility - For those of you who don't know this, I am sort of giving Isis the role of Bacchus/Dionysus from the ancient Roman/Greek mythology. ^.^; It was the first thing that popped into my head when I began writing this chapter.

[2] - Otogi Ryuuji the Doctor - Er... His last name is Ryuuji, isn't it? I hope so. ^.^; And I have no idea why I made him the God's Physician. His was the first name that came to mind when I needed someone to look at Shizuka-chan. Besides, this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship between him and her. O.o;

[3] - Malik's Song - The second chorus of the lyrics at the top of the prologue. ^.^ "The Devil Is Bad" by The W's.

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Jou: Yer gonna make me do something stupid again, aren't ya? *accusing glare*

Nozomi: *innocent look* Not stupid, Jounouchi-kun, just... ignorant? *grin* Besides, could you resist-- *leans over and whispers in his ear*...?

Jou: o.o Wha--? Why, you--! *tries to strangle her*

Nozomi: *jumps out of the way* Thren-chan! Help me!

Threnody: *dry look* It's your fault for writing such a pathetic excuse for a story and getting the characters in trouble like you do. Deal with it.

Nozomi: *runs away* R&R, minnaaaaa~!!