Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Ways to Drive an Esper Psycho ❯ Dragon's Blessing ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

AUTHOR'S NOTES: OK, some fanservice in this chapter pertaining to Weevil Underwood- no, he doesn't go to the Shadow Realm, but he does get a good scare. Yep, Kaiba gave Isis the real deal. Why would he give her a fake? Oh, and on the Giltia issue- the D could also be interpreted as "Dragon," as in Giltia the Dragon Knight. I guess that's kind of appropriate for this story, since he's Dar's friend.
Oh, and the apostrophes in this chapter may be messed up.

WARNINGS: Dragon necrotomy (messing around with dead bodies), language, threatened trips to Anubis, and an off-screen car accident.

Several of the bones that made up Ryuunosuke’s armor had originally resided in the skeleton of the dragon Corundum Snow, father of a daughter and three sons, all of whom had inherited his blue eyes; Ryuunosuke was not aware of this. Only a few of them, of course- there had to be something to be buried, after all. The rest of it was taken from various animals and warped to fit.
Corundum had chosen Ryuunosuke to be their companion before Sapphire was even born. Disease (dragons generally had, of course, stronger constitutions, but the ones that did get through were all the more deadly) had claimed him soon afterward; that had been his last request. Their mother had been initially disgusted at the suggestion, but he had been insistent. It was a kind of posthumous blessing, actually, to give a human the privilege of donning armor made from such a thing (they had had this explained to them by their mother later; they were far too young to comprehend it at the time; they only knew that it was what their father wanted). Their father had been on very good terms with Ryuunosuke’s parents, and this was their reward.
Besides, didn’t some humans treasure dragon bones? At least what they thought were dragon bones?
But she had made them promise to never tell Ryuunosuke himself what the armor was composed of- humans tended to be very squeamish about that sort of thing. They would condemn doing such a thing to their own parents; what, then, would their reaction be to this?
Now even Haku couldn’t remember which bones they were.
Therefore, he took special care with each section of the armor as he slid it on, making sure not to wind up with it on backwards. This experiment had enough potential problems without the ones that could be caused by that particular slip-up.
After Haku was more or less certain about the proper arrangements of the sections of armor, he leaned over, worked his hands into the proper position, and straightened up, with the desired results.
Fact: People looked different when they were sleeping; their sleeping expression depended on whether their dreams were good ones or nightmares. When Haku had checked on Sapphire on the way over, he had, judging from his face, been having one of the former (for once). The same went for Ryuunosuke. Haku couldn’t recall a time since Before when he had seen Ryuunosuke smile like the way he was currently; this one wasn’t an ill-constructed barrier to conceal anxiety. This was not in the same category as the expression Pharaoh Yami had displayed whenever he won a Game (sometimes during those Games, Haku recalled, he had supported the Pharaoh’s opponent simply because they needed it more than the Pharaoh ever could). It was the smile of someone convinced that everything’s-all-right-at-least-for-now.
Haku wished he could smile like that. Maybe in his dreams.
It was back to his bedroom. Ryuunosuke went under the blanket, which was then pulled up to his chin. Haku promptly retreated and hoped that the armor would not induce a stiff neck or a similar affliction; getting Ryuunosuke back in the armor was the only way he could think of to convince himself that his intentions were clean. And even then he didn’t quite buy his own argument.
“At least,†he muttered as he threw himself onto another bed, “I can’t ***** him when he’s got it on.â€

Cassiel thought at the moment of impact that he had fallen off a tower; logic soon revealed that he’d simply fallen out of the bed. He relaxed until he realized what- or, rather, who- he’d fallen on top of.
Cassiel yelped and scrambled away; his back hit the bed. Chihiro frowned slightly and opened her eyes. “Well,†she said, “good morning.â€
He had to swallow before replying. “I apologize.â€
“It’s all right,†she said. “Accidents will happen.†And she smiled; Cassiel suspected she had wanted this particular accident. “I hope you don’t mind seeing him again; I’m sure this racket has gotten him up.†As if on cue, someone knocked on the door. He was somewhat surprised by this; Chihiro’s Master hadn’t seemed like a person who would knock on a door.
Apparently Chihiro was just as surprised. “Yes?†she called. “Who’s there?â€
If Cassiel hadn’t sensed a general absence of magic around Chihiro’s Master he would have sworn it was some kind of illusion, because logically speaking there was just no way the same person that he had spoken to on Monday.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,†said this person, “but, Chihiro, you could have notified me of this.â€
“I didn’t think,†said Chihiro, “that you’d want to be notified.â€
“Guilty as charged.†The smile looked like it hadn’t been used in a while. “And you are… Cassiel, correct?†Cassiel nodded. “I don’t think we were properly introduced. I’m Seto Kaiba.â€
Cassiel began looking doubly hard for magic traces.

Ryuunosuke was completely yanked from his dreams (they were good ones) at the sound. His eyes were shut, but even then he could sense an aberration. His neck was stiff, and the bed didn’t feel the same. This was because, he discovered when he opened his eyes, it wasn’t the same bed. His vague suspicions were confirmed when he saw the room it was placed in- Haku’s room.
So where was Haku, then?
Funny- he certainly hadn’t gone to sleep wearing his armor, but he was wearing it now, as well as the cloak, which was now somewhat wrinkled due to his sleeping on it. He decided to investigate this phenomenon later, left the room and looked up and down the hall. It was quite early; he heard nothing but the murmur of voices from Chihiro’s room. He recognized all three of those voices; none of them belonged to Haku. In fact, there was no sign of Haku whatsoever.
Unless…
He had shared the room with Sapphire the first night, the night they had all discovered how loudly Chihiro and Haku’s brother could scream when he was sleeping. Ryuunosuke could not recall any specific details of that night, but he did get a general feeling from the events. And that was the feeling of being very, very tired. Now he had it all to himself; not that it mattered much.
The door was shut; he opened it after a minute of standing in front of it imagining what things he might see inside that he wasn’t meant to see. Then he put a hand on the doorknob, twisted it, and pushed- the action itself was quite easy.
Haku hadn’t bothered with blankets-or else he had thrown them all off in his sleep. They were all in a pile on the floor, beside the bed. He appeared to have just gone onto it without shedding anything; or maybe, Ryuunosuke thought, he had and it had been put back for the same reason Ryuunosuke’s armor had been put back.
In duels, in their natural shapes, the Snow siblings were indistinguishable from one another. But in their human forms you’d have to be a fool to not be able to tell them apart. Haku threw arms and legs parallel and stretched like a strange variety of cat, then rolled onto his back, yawned, reached to his face and brushed away a few stray strands of white hair. Ryuunosuke watched all of this with a vaguely guilty feeling while rubbing the back of his neck.
Haku tilted his head and looked straight at him. “How can you stand sleeping on this thing? I’ve known of rocks that were softer! I hope you didn’t mind my doing that,†he added quickly. “I didn’t want you to believe something… unnatural happened.â€
Ryuunosuke was indignant at the concept of Haku ever doing something unnatural. “I’d never think such a thing!â€
“Just in case, you understand.†Haku pushed himself off the bed; one of his feet landed sideways and he cursed, bending down to rub his ankle. “Did you sleep all right?†Ryuunosuke nodded. “At least you did. You did, right?†This last question sounded like he was asking for approval; Ryuunosuke had often used that tone himself and it was strange to hear it from Haku.
Ryuunosuke nodded again. Of course, his neck was still stiff, but it was the thought that counted, after all. “Yes, I did.â€

Dar woke up quite early and therefore had the tacit privilege of preparing breakfast for five (Dar, Rex, Ran, Sora, and Scale) afterward hauling Rex out of bed (not to mention reminding him to wear his hat). After some muttered protest when still half-asleep, Rex brightened considerably when he recalled the event they had scheduled for that day. His general aura of perkiness rivaled that of Scale, who took every opportunity to remind them that the Millennium Scales would in all likelihood be used before Friday had ended.
Breakfast was fine, though Dar had put far too much pepper and oregano in the scrambled eggs, and Ran and Sora spent the time sulking because the household had run out of turkey slices, and Scale accidentally-on-purpose spilled cranberry-raspberry juice all over the kitchen floor, creating a feast for the ants.
Ran and Sora went back in their cards, Rex went to school, taking the deck and the Scales with him, and Dar paid a visit to the Turtle Game Shop.
He had a brief conversation with Aaron the cousin of the ever-so-famous Gabriel, who had apparently asked to help with the store so he could get spending money. “Miriam wanted to do it,†he said, “but she looks too young. People would wonder. Stop by later, all right?â€
Dar paid another visit to the library; there were pay phones in front of the doors, and he used a few quarters to call the Valentine apartment in Lantern on the off chance that Helen or maybe one of her sisters might answer. He got the answering machine and hung up. And he felt he had already gutted the library of anything he might want to know.
So he took a walk. He walked around Battle City, which was generally dormant, as its most eager participants were required to attend school. And on the way he wondered exactly where that locator card could have got to.
Maybe, Dar speculated, he tripped, and it fell down a storm drain. Maybe he dueled someone else and lost it then, only I don’t remember, and I don’t think he lost any ‘sides Jinzo.
Or maybe he does have it. Maybe he really did have a crisis of conscience.
The knight sounded distinctly irritated. Dragon, make up your mind! First you would willingly make him walk to your Anubis or Hell or whatever you want to call it, then you shudder at the thought of harming even a single hair on his head. At least I made clear decisions!
I’d rather not make a clear decision to go around killing people.
You make it sound like it was completely random! They deserved it!
Yes, that’s true, and to the right we see Michael Gaia having a civilized conversation with Hikari Kenshin…

“Oh, Raptor…â€
Rex’s response had been rehearsed mentally ever since he noticed Weevil Underwood’s interest in the Scales he had been carrying slung over his shoulder or had masking-taped to his backpack throughout the school day. “Yeah, what, Underwood?â€
Weevil had to sprint to catch up with Rex’s stride homeward. “That’s a very interesting set of scales you’ve got there. Are they real gold?â€
Who is this moron? And why are you putting up with him?
Rex let out the mental equivalent of a sigh. Because you can get kicked out of school for clobbering people, that’s why.
And what’s so bad about that? It’s a small price to pay to get rid of the annoying little beetle.
Have you been reading my mind?
None of your business.
“Maybe some of it,†Rex answered. “Why do you ask?â€
“It’s so shiny… may I hold it?â€
Exactly which institution of deception did this little beetle learn his craft from? Even the wimp in the Ankh could see through that! Come on, do as the little beetle says and hand me over!
“I don’t know about that.†There is no way I am going to let you kill him! At least not in broad daylight.
That was so funny I forgot to laugh. Ha, ha, ha. There. Now do it!
You don’t think anyone will notice if an Egyptian god shows up and drags Weevil to hell?
Why should I care who will notice?
“Pretty please with a cherry on top?†Weevil was looking even more closely at the Scales now; they had gone a considerable way during the conversation. Rex unlocked the door and walked in, stepping on some of the ants that had taken up residence in the kitchen; Weevil dashed in before he could shut it again. “Raptor, you know you want to. Come on, just for a min-†The Scales glowed. “Yah!â€
Scale smirked, in his glory. “You’re not going to go to Anubis just yet, you little beetle. But in the meantime-†Any punishment Scale would have inflicted was cut short by Weevil Underwood screaming and running out the still-open door.
After Dar got back, the doorbell rang. Rex answered the door to see a neighbor, making sure his shoelaces were crossed. “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just that there was a bit of an ant problem in the kitchen. Some of them ran onto his shoe. Really, it was nothing.â€

Hours of practice with Jane starting Friday morning (Chihiro, of course, had been exasperated by his monopoly, but Haku had countered by bringing up her own monopoly that Tuesday; last time he checked she was making do with a laptop) had paid off. The chess games with Ryuunosuke that continued that afternoon were now more or less evenly matched; and it was during the third of these games, when they seemed to be exactly mirroring each other’s movements, that the jokes started.
Ryuunosuke had started it, making a crack about Obelisk the Tormentor being only a glorified rock tower with delusions of grandeur- he confessed he had gotten the idea from a dictionary definition. Haku had laughed so hard that he had nearly fallen out of his chair, and Sapphire had come in and asked if he had turned into a Toon.
“Maybe,†said Haku. “Do my eyes look very big to you?†Sapphire had left the room laughing as well. Later he heard Seto and Mokuba laughing as well; apparently Sapphire had relayed them the joke.
Haku responded with a somewhat limp one he had gotten while talking to Jane. Ryuunosuke had laughed at that one, so hard he really had fallen out of the chair. And the games continued.
Nobody bothered to count the wins and losses; Haku would have counted the laughter, but there was too much of it. It was a very, very good afternoon for laughter.

“Rex?â€
“Yeah, Dar?â€
Dar looked at the other people on the bus, leaned close and whispered into Rex’s ear; he had to lean down a bit to accomplish this. “I’d rather not kill anyone for a while. How about you?â€
Rex shifted in his seat and whispered back. “Yeah, homicide isn’t exactly a happy memory I want when I’m old and wrinkled. Got any better ideas?â€
“I think it might be a better idea…â€
“Then let’s hear it.â€

Esper was caught off-guard by teachers’ questions several time during the day; he managed to get out of most of the encounters relatively unscathed. In mathematics, however, nearly the entire class cracked up or was obviously trying hard not to crack up- the teacher was in the latter group. By the time of the last bell he was pretty sure this ranked right up with the day Kyo was born as one of the worst days in his life.
And now on top of everything there was a homicidal set of scales to worry about- someone who could drop into the floor (not to mention make said floor swirl at point of exit and go completely normal afterwards) should probably be believed, even if his name sounded like “Shoddy.†He reflected that “Attack of the Killer Scales†would be a feasible title for a bad horror movie. Hey, it couldn’t be any worse than “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.â€
He was not ambushed by any killer scales on the way home. It didn’t happen when he reached home, or when he was rushing through his homework. He estimated he had made several dozen careless errors in math, and he was sure he had misspelled something in the rough draft of his essay. His distraction was partly due to this, partly due to Kyo deciding now would be a good time to have a crying fit, and partly due to his watching the door and waiting for Dar DelaSangre to walk in.
He arrived at the store several minutes early and performed his job with only slightly more attention that he had paid to academics. Esper knew his performance was sub-par, but it was one thing to tell himself to do better and quite another thing to actually do better. But, hey, at least he wasn’t fired.
Val gave him another ride, dropping him off at the apartment building and zooming off to do some shopping. He walked to the elevator and reached for the button for the twenty-first floor. Another hand darted in front of his and pushed it first.
The doors slid shut before Esper could leave- he almost ran right into the doors. He pressed the open button, but the elevator was already on its way up. He then turned his attention to the other two people in the elevator.
As he watched, it became three people.
“Roba,†said Rex Raptor, “I think you know what this is about, right?â€
Esper decided to fall back on an old strategy- false bravado. “Yeah, I think I know. What about it?â€
Despite Shadi’s warnings, he hadn’t really expected Rex to take a set of scales with a weird eye on them and hold them out with as much confidence as if he had a loaded machine gun. “Okay. You have some stuff that’s mine. And I’m sure you know what.â€
“Get it over with already!†the weird guy with the turban who looked just a bit like Shadi yelled.
“Shut up,†said Dar. “You might get your turn later.â€
“Might? Why you-â€
The doors slid open and Esper ran out; he knew they were following. “Just a minute. I’ll get it, okay? Keep your shirt on!â€
“Don’t forget,†Dar yelled, “the locator card.â€
Esper had opened the apartment door by the time he heard this; he tripped over the threshold and landed in a heap on the floor. He gave the door a shove and ran for the bedroom, ignoring his brothers’ nervous queries; he never heard the door slam.
He grabbed the card for Serpent Night Dragon, then proceeded to reach under the mattress. His fingers scrabbled around under it, encountering only fugitive, somewhat flattened dust bunnies. Esper cursed and shoved his head and shoulders underneath as well. The mattress pressed down on him; he felt like he was going to suffocate, the dust bunnies were smearing all over him, and all the while his mind was counting off the seconds.
There!
Esper grabbed the locator card, slid out, and ran out of the bedroom again. He probably looked like hell froze over and reheated and he didn’t care at all. Danny and Charlie followed him, demanding to know what was going on. He deflected their queries with, “I’ll explain later.â€
It was only then that a thought managed to shove itself out of the crowd and before him- how, just how, had they known he still had a locator card?

Scale and the knight were going to be mightily ticked off, Dar knew, but they’d just have to live with it.
If I ever have to use that thing or get Rex to, he decided, I’ll try and do it when we’re really old, so we won’t have to remember it for so long.
He remembered that after the official lesson they’d all been asking Gabriel for coherent answers to the questions they had not been given a chance to ask, and despite his protests that he was not qualified, he granted their request. “If this is true, and a soul fails the test,†Geoffrey had asked, “what is supposed to happen to it, exactly? I mean, if it is true?â€
Gabriel had contemplated this. “This is true, Geoffrey,†he began, with a tone of near-absolute conviction. “There is no ‘if.’ And to answer your question, it is not. It simply is not. Everything a failed soul was or could have been ceases to exist.†He sounded sad about it, even though he was speaking of people who evidently deserved it.
That night Dar had dreamed about what it was like to cease to exist. It wasn’t a pleasant dream by any definition; the next morning everyone who shared sleeping quarters with him had been severely annoyed with him for making such a tremendous noise. Job had said that the Pharaoh himself had come running that night, thinking some catastrophe had befallen his interests.
Dar had decided that he didn’t want to be directly responsible for everything anyone was or could have been ceasing to exist.
He’d talked to Rex about this; Rex had shared his concern. They’d come up with a new Plan A- get Esper Roba to hand over Dar’s card and the locator card, possibly via use of the Scales as intimidation. Actually using the Scales, for their intended purpose, would be relegated to Plan B.
They had discussed all the various rules of playing Mao (they even made some up on the spot) in loud voices for the rest of the ride to keep Scale from catching on.
And Plan A had worked out just fine, thank you very much.
Rex took the cards without saying thank you- “thank you†was not appropriate in this situation. Does a judge thank a criminal for paying a fine? Neither, then, should Rex Raptor thank Esper Roba for returning what was rightfully his all along.
Scale looked like he was about to let loose a volley of profanity. Dar reached into his pockets, felt the remaining coins, and wondered how much chocolate he could buy with it, as well as how much would be necessary in order to mollify Scale.
Tom poked his head out. “Excuse me, but Dar, are you going already?â€

Esper wasn’t sure exactly how they had all ended up caring about a card initially viewed as a walking coaster. But they did. That was the important thing.
“Esper,†said Tommy, “is he coming back? Ever?â€
Esper looked from the window and saw a lone figure, Rex Raptor in all likelihood, hardly more than a spot from where he was, walking toward the bus stop. “Tom,†he said, “remember you asked if Mom would ever come back?â€
“But Dar isn’t dead! How come he left? He was really nice, he wasn’t evil at all!â€
“Come off it, Tom,†said Danny, “you’re just upset ‘cause you won’t get free burgers anymore.â€
Is that how he did it? He bought our hearts and souls with hamburgers? Jesus T. Christ…

“-so, see, when ya divide or multiply by a minus number,†Jade finished, “ya oughta flip the thingy.â€
Joey nodded, comprehending. “Gee, I wish they’d get teachers that can really teach stuff like how ya just did.â€
Jade colored and laughed while holding a hand behind his head. “Well, they have to do it with a lot more people. It’s got to be harder for them.â€
“Ya think that’s why they all seem to be crabby?â€
“Well, I haven’t met them. I wouldn’t know. But I guess it could be like that, yeah.â€
Joey finished the rest of the homework in a short time. Then he made a call. “Hello, Yuge? Is it okay if I battle ya tomorrow at eight?â€

Cassiel arrived back at the shop and was immediately greeted. Aaron made some more hints Cassiel didn’t quite understand, but he understood enough of it to make him redden and deny it. Miriam showed him her newest trick, making interior fireworks (it was cut short by Pharaoh Yami sticking his head in and shouting, “STOP THAT IMMEDIATELY!â€). Gabriel was very polite as always and asked him to help plan Geoffrey’s next lesson (he did help). But nobody asked if he wanted to stay the night; it was a given that he would not.
When it was time to perform the transport ritual, Aaron said, “Remember to have fun with the lady dragon.â€
Ailill looked up from the spelling lesson and brushed back some of the yellow hair that had fallen in his face. “I’m assuming you don’t mean Tani.â€
Gabriel looked up from writing out some magical formula or another with an expression of mild surprise. “Ah. You’re staying with Chihiro Snow?†Cassiel nodded, vaguely expecting a rebuke of some kind. “That’s good.â€
Ailill nodded. “She’s certainly smart. How many Ss in ‘occasion’ again?â€
“Just one, Lill. And Gaia certainly knows,†said Tani, “she plays his game very well. She defeated him all the time Before.â€
Hikari laughed. “Not that he’ll admit it.â€
“Pardon me for my ignorance,†said Yami in a tone that negated the humility of his words, “but who is Chihiro Snow?†They had obviously been hoping he wouldn’t ask that question; everyone seemed to spontaneously return to what they had been doing previously with no indication that their words had ever been spoken. Yami was not at all pleased by this; annoyance clouded his face. “Answer me!â€
Ailill looked up from the spelling lesson with an equally annoyed expression. “Attribute: Light. Level: Seven. Type: Dragon.â€
Silence. “I… see…â€
Cassiel took his leave before things could start plunging downhill.

Esper looked through the window at an upward angle to see the sky above the buildings. He couldn’t see any stars. Once, a year or two previous, he had had to do a science project involving observation of stars. It was the one science project he had failed that year, because he hadn’t seen any stars three nights in a row.
He wasn’t quite sure why he’d kept the locator card. It just didn’t seem right to use it, somehow. So he had stuck it under the mattress, waited for himself to come to his senses and go out into Battle City once more.
No chance of that happening now. No chance of it happening ever.
Being morally perfect was harder than it sounded. Oh sure, you could try to be perfect; just about everyone had the right to try. You could be the junior high equivalent of valedictorian, ace your drama class, have the exact lines required to send the bullies who called you a green-haired freak running for cover …
You could go to school a week after your life blew up as if nothing happened. You could know in your heart that this wasn’t how it should be, that you should have said something, but not say a word. You could fake signatures on your brothers’ report cards. You could not get an invitation to Duelist Kingdom while all the other district champions did and wonder if Maximilian Pegasus was the psychic you pretended to be. You could explain it all to yourself by saying you were doing what was right in a higher sense- weren’t your brothers more important than any tournament rules could ever be?
The view from the outside was different from the view on the inside, that was for sure.
The phone began to wail. He grabbed it. “Hello?â€
“Zachary Roba!â€
“Um… Ms. Malloy?â€
“Tell me, what stunt have you been pulling?â€
“Wha-â€
“The police just called. Your father was hit by a car.â€
“What the-!â€
“He’s alive, Zachary. But he was hit in Oregon. You understand that’s quite a long way from here. Do you have an explanation?â€
“Not exactly, Ms. Malloy, no…†Esper dropped the phone, then out of the sense of thrift he had developed out of necessity, quickly picked it up and replaced it.
All for nothing… all for nothing…
He locked the door, perched himself on the kitchen counter, and waited for someone to arrive.
Charlie approached him. “Esper? What just happened?â€
Esper focused on his shoes. “Dad got hit by a car.â€
“But that means…â€
A nod. “Yeah. Enjoy this while it lasts, okay?â€

“I have a claim on the bed tonight,†said Jade. “Ya got that?â€
“Sure I’ve got it,†said Sandy. “Which one?â€
Geoffrey looked up from picking bits of plaster off his spear, which had become embedded in the wall due to a practical joke. “Alexander, sometimes I think you’re too precocious for your own good.â€
“I’m very-â€
“Old for your age. I know,†Jade finished the sentence. “But still, I’m not sure ya oughta know so much. I’m pretty sure you should learn something every day, something like that. Sorry about that,†he added at Joey’s horrified expression.
Joey smiled. “Hey, if you’re gonna teach me, I’m ready.â€
Sandy clapped hands once; the sound was enough to get everyone’s attention. “Well? Which one?†It was obvious he already knew what the answer would be.

“’Night, Dar.â€
“’Night, Rex.â€
Rex made his way to the light switch and flipped it off, then started back. He cursed as he fell over something soft, hastily apologized to Sora (or maybe it was Ran), then got into bed. He stared at the ceiling for a minute.
Then he ran for the switch, avoiding Ran and Sora this time, flicked it back on, apologized to the others, and got his deck. He also got the cards he hadn’t put in his deck because he hadn’t seen the point (they were primarily Magic and Trap cards).
Then he made his way to the computer room, muted the volume, called up a Duel Monsters fan site, and began doing some heavy-duty alteration of his deck.