Pirates of the Arisu :: 13th Storm :: Fear
Title: Pirates of the Arisu
Genre: Alternate Universe, BL&Yaoi, Action&Adventure, Comedy/Crack, Slight Drama&Angst
Pairings: ShouxHiroto, mentioned AoixKai, ChiyuxYuji, KanonxTakeru, implied SagaxNao, Torax??, etc.
Summary: Kohara Kazumasa had a dream to sail the seas and explore every bit of land he could. He shared that dream with Ogata Hiroto and made a promise to come back for him. When he finally did, he decided that he can't possibly go back to Kohara Kazumasa and took on the name "Shou" -- the captain of a pirate crew -- with his own agenda.
Warnings: Sexy Shou in one hell of an eyepatch and mild language. XD
Prologue - 01 - 02 - 03 - 04 - 05 - 06 - 07 - 08 - 09 - 10 - 11 - 12
13th Storm :: Fear
The pendant had a chain made of silver and a round aquamarine crystal with silver lining--carved as though they were waves. Hiroto had no time to refuse this extravagant "gift" since Satsuki had already placed it in his hands. However, he did have (some) time to admire it. As he held it up, although no light struck, stars seemed to sparkle within the crystal with shimmering colors of the rainbow--drawing out a smile from the young pirate.
"This is our promise," Satsuki said, "that you'll save Kohara-kun--and that you'll also receive the Arisu afterwards." Hiroto's attention snapped back to the young god, who had given him no further explanation. By the time he parted his lips, Hiroto found himself falling into blackness. His grasp around the necklace loosened, and the jewelry slipped from his hold. Gravity pushed him further down and down to the point where Hiroto couldn't even see a gleam of light. Were his eyes open or closed? He did not know.
For a moment, it felt like he was falling--about to land on his back. He did not know when he had crashed forward--breaking glass and landing on top of a cold, icy floor. His eyes flickered open before lifting up shyly, seeing two shadowy figures in front of him and a giant black hole with blue and purple spirals.
[TORA]
Nao stylishly avoided the strikes the scorpion launched with its poisonous tail--sliding and rolling out of the way like a big clumsy bear. Tora rolled his eyes while Saga released a sigh, wondering how someone like Nao managed to defeat his enemies within ten minutes. The tiger popped his knuckles before charging forward. By the time he managed to land a critical hit on the beast's forehead, Nao sliced off its tail.
Saga pulled out his twin pistols, shooting feverishly at the scorpion--forcing it to fall backwards instead of forward (and on Tora and Nao). Its legs staggered back and forth indecisively until Tora decided to land another punch. While Nao was retreating back to the chef, a white light exploded from the scorpion before blinding all three of the pirates. Tora looked back--unable to see anything--as he called out for Saga and Nao.
"TORASHII!" Nao screamed before Saga let out a cry. It seemed as if the ground disappeared from under his feet and as if the sky grew heavier. Although Tora "stood" upright, he felt as if a force was pushing him down--as if he was falling. His body began to tense--waiting for the impact of his landing that seemed as if it was never to come.
A gentle tranquility started to embrace him--causing any tension in his body to relax and fade away. A floor began to materialize beneath his feet, a floor of stained glass. The tiger looked around. He was still surrounded by darkness, and the only light was the glow of the stained glass--a stained glass of familiar faces. Tora kneeled in front of the image of Shou with white feathery wings sprouting out of his back while tied up by black vines. His eyes strayed down, only to find Hiroto attempting to climb up those vines.
"We meet again," a calm, soothing voice greeted him. Tora turned his head--finding Jui smiling at him. "It seems you dispelled the illusion successfully--that scorpion being the trigger. I must say, you truly have leadership skills."
"What kind of maze is this?" Tora hissed.
Jui's smile was wiped off his lips with that one question. "I myself am not sure. Even though I know the way out, I'm not sure what will be waiting for you along the way. As for now, you should reunite with Saga-san and Nao-san and get out of here first," Jui answered.
Tora's eyes narrowed at the brunet. "What about Shou and Pon?" he inquired.
Jui's gaze fell to the stained glass.
"The prophecy has already began. They're involved in a different kind of story now. Later...later you will meet up with them again."
Tora's already narrowed eyes became slits. "Hell. No," he seethed through gritted teeth. His fingers balled into fists before unclenching and grabbing the collar of Jui's shirt--pulling him closer until their noses brushed against each other. Tora could feel the tears wanting to fall, but he refused to let them escape. He was pissed and angry and furious. How could this ghost suggest to leave behind and abandon his captain and his younger brother (figure)? "We won't leave this labyrinth without them."
Jui smiled before removing himself from Tora's grasp. "I figured you'd say that," Jui chirped before waving his hand and warping Tora back to Saga and Nao. The navigator jumped onto Tora's back, tears of relief streaming down his cheeks.
[SHOU]
Eris hadn't changed a bit. Her skin was still the ghostly pale complexion it was, and her eyes were the darkest of midnight blue--not yet glowing the devilish, bloody red it gets when she was angry. Her hair, the color of a raven's feathers, flowed behind her as she slid forward, dragging the train of her navy blue dress that hugged her curves. She led me towards the portal only a few feet away, motioning for me to step through.
"What's wrong?" she whispered huskily in my ear, wrapping her thin, frail arms around my neck. Of all words to describe Eris, frail was definitely not one of them--even though the goddess gave off the fragile appearance. I didn't flinch at her freezing cold touch, nor did I blink at her actions. I knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to drag me to the Underworld, drag me to the hell that has been waiting for my arrival for a long time. After all, I had evaded the deadline for far too long.
"Are you regretting your decision now, my dear demon?" she questioned with a taunting smirk as if she had won the battle against the other gods. Her fingers pulled off my eye patch, and her gaze focused on my red glare. "Are you thinking about betraying me, your devil? If you do, I cannot say what will happen to your darling lover."
"Just like how you had deceived and betrayed Nemesis?" I retorted, "You made her think that she was doing Zeus a favor by sending her as your messenger--proposing that I become a demon so I could live on and keep my promise to Hiroto. In return, you cursed me so I shall never rest in peace--never have a chance at Heaven. Furthermore, I'm not just any demon; unfortunately, I'm your demon--not Hades', but yours.
"Originally, I had thought Nemesis was a goddess of evil, but she was only an avenger for those who wronged the gods. You set her up--making the gods think that she loved seeing pain. Really, you're the one who's pulling the strings--the one who framed Nemesis for your evil-doings so Zeus won't bother you. So much for goddess of chaos; you're afraid of the consequences of your actions."
"And you're afraid of Tartarus, aren't you?" she remarked before pulling on my arm. "Okay, let's go. Our deal was that you'll find the Arisu within three years. Guess how long it's been? What? Six years?" She was the first to go through the swirling portal, still holding onto my arm. However, another person grasped my free arm. My head turned around, finding Hiroto's pleading eyes.
"Don't follow her," he begged. "Don't... Three years, six years...what does it matter? We haven't found Arisu-san yet, and...Tora-chan and Nao-san and Sagachii... We haven't met up with them... And... I don't want to lose you. I love you, Shou; I love you, Kazumasa-kun... I don't want you to go to Hell all by yourself." The Goddess of Disorder returned with a glowing red glare.
"What's going on?!" she bellowed before noticing Hiroto. Her eyes narrowed at the smaller, and I immediately pushed him behind me, holding onto his hand firmly. "I knew I should have killed you at the deadline, damned squirrel," she hissed before pushing me away and snatching Hiroto from my grasp. "And not just you--all of you," she added before pulling out a dagger from thin air. Hiroto yanked his wrist out of her grasp, backing away immediately with wide eyes before hitting a wall--knocking the breath out of his lungs.
Instinctively, I attempted to knock the dagger out of her grasp, but she merely ducked and threw the dagger at a nearly unconscious Hiroto. A gasp escaped my lips when black vines began to wrap around my body, its thorns pricking my skin and drawing black blood from my flesh.
"Hiroto!" I exclaimed, but it was already too late. The dagger had embedded itself in his chest--although it was not deep. A strangled cry escaped Hiroto's lips as tears began to roll down my cheeks. His eyes began to dullen and close shut. "Hiroto!" I screeched. "Wake up, Hiroto! Open your eyes!"
A white light began to envelope everything in the area as Eris let out a curse. I had to squint and shut my own eyes before feeling the vines around my body dissolve to dust.
"HIROTO!"
"It's okay, Kazumasa-kun," Hiroto reassured softly within my ear. "I'm okay. Open your eyes."
Surely enough, Hiroto was smiling in front of me. Eris was nowhere in sight and Tora, Nao, and Saga were behind him. What was it that I just experienced then? A dream? A nightmare? An illusion? My hand traveled to his face, caressing his soft skin, a smile curving onto my lips. Whatever it was, it didn't matter right now. Hiroto was still here.
I sat up straight, pressing my lips against his--not caring if the others were observing.
"Don't leave me," I murmured under my breath.
He wrapped his arms around my frame.
"I won't," he promised before trembling and sobbing. "I thought I lost you... Don't scare me like that... That woman...was the one who made a contract with you, right? She's a devil, right?" I froze. So it was real. "I'll save you. I'll definitely save you." After he said those words, I gently pushed him away, staring at him--mystified. Unlike the current me, he was determined and held his resolve firmly. "After all of this, I really want to stargaze with you... Just like old times with just the two of us."
He stood up first before helping me onto my own two feet. The two of us turned around--only to see a new face amongst our crewmates. Tora introduced the brunet as Jui, a ghost of Royale SuGizo who promised to help us through this labyrinth. I nodded my approval before finding myself wandering behind the others--although side by side and hand in hand with Hiroto.
Jui then suggested that we take a break. Saga immediately prepared a small meal while Nao pulled out his mapping tools. Tora sat down beside Jui, dragging the ghost into a conversation. I sat down nearby, overhearing that Jui had an incurable disease several years ago--Shun-sensei being the one who took care of him. Shun-sensei still felt guilty for Jui's passing because he made a vow to him that he'd find a cure. Jui was still around to watch over him, but he was requested to lead us out of here by Kanon--seeing that Jui traveled around the world already and knew this labyrinth fairly well.
Not wanting to hear any more of his story, I stood up and began to stroll around the area--Hiroto following closely behind me when I started to walk down a different path before finding an open spaced area with an alter in the center. There were no exits, and there was only that one path we took to get here.
"Where is this place?" Hiroto questioned, his face suddenly paling. Tears began to slip from the corners of his eyes as he leaned against the wall--holding his chest with his right hand as his left hand grasped his head.
"Hiroto!" I kneeled beside him and held him in my arms as he slid down the wall and began to shudder violently. "What's wrong?" I asked him, shaking his shoulders lightly. "Hiroto, what's wrong?" Placing gentle butterfly kisses from his temple down to his jaw, I began to comfort him. Cradling him in my arms like he was a small child, I started to sing him a song to calm him down. His quivering slowed down as he began to hold onto me.
"It hurts, Kazumasa..." he whispered.
"What hurts, Hiroto?" I questioned, lightly kissing his fingertips.
"My chest... It hurts..." Hiroto sobbed. "My heart is throbbing, and there's something in my mind telling me that something's going to go horribly wrong..." I shook my head.
"Don't worry about it, Hiroto," I muttered, "because there's only two of us in the world right now. Relax... Calm down..."
[KANON]
Kanon's eye lingered on the brunet standing on the shore for a moment longer before allowing a smirk to curve onto his lips. "What are you doing there, Byou? Do you want to get on the ship? It'll be easier to talk that way," Kanon called out.
Byou's glare hardened.
"I'd prefer to talk on land."
"Do you hate the waters that much?" Kanon retorted. "You're in the navy, right? Aren't you supposed to love the sea as much as any pirate out there?"
"Don't lump us marines with you," Byou hissed.
"Why? We're generally nice guys... Well, we are," Kanon chirped as he jerked his thumb back towards his energetic crew having a dance party on board. "Did you not like the fact that your brother became a pirate, too?"
Byou's eyes darkened before he declared, "He's not my brother."
"Because he's a pirate?"
"He doesn't even know about me," Byou added, "and I'd like it to stay that way."
"Oh yes, you were born right after he left for a voyage with your father... Why don't you tell him?"
"Why do I have to answer to you? Anyways, you can't see His Highness and that's final. Stay on your ship and stay away from Takeru-sama," Byou stated.
"You really don't like pirates, do you? But Captain Alphonse Xavier de Soleil wasn't a completely bad guy, you know. That's why your mother fell in love with him," Kanon mused, "and to save your asses, she married that one piece of shit that called himself a samurai. She went so far to lie about him being your father, so you two wouldn't be shunned for being halflings...you know, before you decided to have him arrested and commit suicide and before you moved to this island. Now Shou-kun's a captain..."
With a sigh, Kanon leaned against the railing of his ship, remembering the encounter between Shou and Eris that Yusa claimed to witness. At least Nemesis's name was cleared and Satsuki didn't bother to interfere with Shou's battle with the goddess. However, there was the matter with the Arisu and Hiroto's life at stake.
"Why do you keep visiting even though you know the response of the navy?" Byou inquired curiously--changing the topic.
Kanon smiled wryly.
"I'm hoping that, one day, Takeru and I will be able to meet without sneaking around," he confessed. "Just like how you hope to see your well mother again with your brother... Just like how Shun desires to see Jui again and apologize... Just like..." Kanon trailed off, a bitter-sweet chuckle accompanying his smile.
Just like how the Arisu will be able to sail the oceans with a lively crew--one day...
---
A/N: Ahh~ I've been pretty busy...
Okay, so I went to see GAKIDO the last week... It doesn't mean that I wasn't busy. I had stuff to do after that... Lots of stuff. >.< At least I updated after approximately two or three weeks. :3
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