All the parents of the teen herms of Domino Island craned their necks out of the rooms to see what the loud shout was about. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler were shocked to see Joey in Seto’s arms looking more dead than alive, and as he was being manhandled by the midwives and the doctor-in-charge, he had not said a word. His eyes continued to stare at nothing and his body showed no sign of movement as the doctor and midwives tended to his slit wrists, applying medication and bandages around them and gave him some IV drops for his obvious malnutrition and dehydration, and since he was fortunate to not swallow the birth-inducing meds Illust-chan wanted to force-feed him, he suffered no effects of induced childbirth and the twins in him were issued a clean bill of health. The doctor diagnosed that the ordeal they have went through in the Lair had possibly caused some form of trauma and he has yet to get out of the shock, thus Joey’s vegetative stance. He was quickly admitted into ICU for further observation and to wait out his pregnancy term, and his parents were urged not to enter for the first few days to try and let him ride out the shock on his own for a while.
The mission was a success. Every last one of the Bad Seeds and Fallen Ethereal who tried to escape was either killed or cornered by the army forces of both Maximillion Pegasus and the Outer Beings. They were all arrested and shrunken to almost ant sizes by a human middle man who had the power to alter the sizes of matter. They were all held captive in small glass cases prepared by the army forces of the Fairies and kept for safe-keeping by Mahad and Obsidian the Dark Magician. They found the pure human men who were used to lure and capture the teen herms in a filth room, their severed bodies stacked upon each other to be left to rot as they were no longer of any use to the Bad Seeds and Fallen Ethereals in their plans for domination. Lord Zorc Necrophades, who was in the state of stupor in his room due to lack of strength without a new sacrifice to devour, was immediately taken to custody and sealed alone in an enchanted amulet to be added in the collection of other prisoners.
Akhenadin was nowhere to be seen as he had his fill of excitement and had probably returned to his dark sanctuary after having done with Majah left over by Seto. He had to admit that he had fun catching all his victims by surprise to make way for the rest of his comrades to enter the Lair without stirring much commotion, and he enjoyed looking at the horrified faces of people as they were engulfed and their souls absorbed into his black hole-like darkness, but he was one to get bored easily when the kill was too easy. Besides, he was not in a mood to claim the spoils of war. He’d prefer to be on his own doing whatever Dark Dwellers do best when they’re in their own little world. He was fine with the Outer Beings reaping all the glory, as long as the affairs of the Outer Beings and of the Ethereal Clan are no longer his concern, being the non-chooser of sides he was.
Illust-chan was returning with another dose of the birth-inducing meds when she saw the haphazard state the room was. She spotted Malik with Joey and was all out for bloody murder when she was stopped in her tracks by the sudden appearance of Marik, wielding his scary dark static-crackling powers in his hands. As he did on Diesel Kane and his gang, he sent off the black tendrils through Illust-chan’s veins, giving her a slow, painful, excruciating death. This time, Malik did not stop him from doing what he did best and was able to witness the end result of what would’ve happened to Diesel Kane and his gang. By the time he was done, Illust-chan was in shreds all over the place as the tendrils exploded within her, bursting every single vein it had crawled into, her brains, body parts, entrails, bones and almost anything that made a person’s body sprawled all over the floor in a bloody pool of mess.
After letting Akhenadin take care of what was left of Majah, Seto quickly returned back to the Lair where Malik had him in and tend to his wounds. Malik has finally reunited with his beloved and apologizing profusely between tears about him not waiting for Marik to see him giving birth, and Marik in turn held him tightly in his arms and hushed, whispering in his limited Human Tongue that everything was OK. While Marik held his little pup for the first time, Seto was busy with his Puppy, wrapping fresh clean sheets around his wrists and whispering spells to stop the bleeding. Joey was alive but barely, as his face looked pale with no sign of breaking out from his shocked stance. As Seto carried him in his arms all the way back to Domino Island along with Lord Seth and his other fellow Whisperer, Joey continued to stare in space and show no response whatsoever to his surroundings. It was as if he had totally lost touch of reality and couldn’t be bothered to wake up from his sleepless dreams.
Malik and his baby Night (whose name was approved by his Master Marik) was tended by the midwives as soon as he reached the hospital along with Joey and the other Whisperers. The midwives checked Night’s weight, height and all things concerning a newborn baby while the doctors checked Malik’s health. So far, so good. Since Malik was the first to give birth, Lord Seth did his royal duty to honour the ritual and sniff out the newborn pup. It was a no-brainer that Lord Seth announced that Night was a Whisperer-dominant, which confirmed Illust-chan’s guess. Malik had expected this to happen, and had prepared himself to face the consequences of giving birth to a Whisperer-dominant baby, but he couldn’t help feeling sad knowing that he would never see Marik or Night ever again after this. And though he didn’t wish Marik to see him, Marik knew that his little Dark Chocolate was crying and sobbing in his arms. All the Royal Executioner could do was hush him and stroke his back to comfort him, and promise him that Night would be in good hands.
As soon as the sedatives and medication to delay the birth wore off, the whole hospital was soon overwhelmed with young ‘mothers’ whining and crying in pain as their contractions kicked in. The hospital had to call for doctors from other hospitals and clinics and Lord Seth had to send the message to Maximillion Pegasus to gather as many human and Ethereal midwives as possible to cover the shorthand of staffs. All the Whisperers involved in siring the children of the young ‘mothers’ quickly sniffed them out and went into their rooms to witness the birth.
Tristan tried to act tough when Duke came in to witness the birth, but when Duke held his arm, asking if he was OK and telling him that he was here with him, Tristan couldn’t stop his tears from overflowing. Mr. and ‘Mrs.’ Taylor were glad to meet Duke for the first time, and did not ask questions about why he and Tristan were so intimate with each other, seemingly giving them a sort of knowing look when Duke planted a chaste kiss on his forehead and helped him ride out the pain. Due to his strength and stamina from his life of being a jock, giving birth was a little bit easy for him, although Tristan still couldn’t hold back the tears and the pained curses and swears as he struggled to push the baby out into the world. His cold sweat drenched the hospital gown he was wearing and blood was all over the sheets, and there were almost a few times when Tristan wanted to stop and give up, but with his parents and Duke’s encouragement, he managed to pull through. After about almost half an hour and the umpteenth time of pushing, a beautiful herm Whisperer was soon caught by the midwife. Lord Seth entered and sniffed the baby out, and announced it to be a Whisperer-dominant. Despite the fact that he announced first time in Solomon’s lecture on the ritual that he would not cry when Lord Seth made that sort of announcement, Tristan bawled and wailed in agony in Duke’s arms, screaming “No! No! No!” over and over again while Duke tried as best as he could to calm him down and hush him, rocking him gently to and fro until his little Soldier passed out from fatigue.
Yugi, on the other hand, couldn’t be bothered with all the formalities of introducing Yami to Solomon as he wrapped his arms around Yami and kissed him hungrily, savouring the taste of his mouth that he had missed so much since he was held captive in the Lair. Solomon looked a little disapproving at first, but decided to leave them be as he could see that Yugi was riding the pain much better with Yami’s presence. Yugi tried to be strong at first as they started off the birth, but soon was flooded with tears and pain as he felt the babies inched out of his vagina. Due to his smaller built than his fellow feminine friend Ryou, it was a little hard for him to push the baby out, so the midwife had to resort to using a pair of surgical scissors to cut the vagina wider, earning a painful wail from the little ‘mother’. The whole room echoed with his agonized screams as he gave birth to Destiny first, almost squeezing the hell out of Yami’s hand and tearing the sleeve of Solomon’s shirt. As was experienced by Malik, the head and shoulders coming out were the worst pain he felt, and he almost passed out from the pain and the amount of blood he was losing, but hearing Solomon’s encouraging words and feeling Yami’s reassuring hold on his hand and back, he managed to snap out of near unconsciousness to push Hope out. The midwife announced that he gave birth to both a pure boy and a herm boy, but that didn’t matter much as Lord Seth’s announcement that they were both Whisperer-dominant. Yugi somehow knew this was going to happen, but like Malik, he couldn’t help crying over the thought of not seeing Destiny and Hope—and Yami—ever again.
Ryou was glad that Bakura kept his promise and came back to witness the birth. Although he had sustained a few wounds from apprehending some of the most stubborn Bad Seeds, he was still up and about enough to come in and hug his little dear Princess, whispering that he was here and not going anywhere. Giving birth for Ryou was, as Tristan would put it, like a bitch. Even though the midwife asked if he wanted to do Caesarean due to his condition, Ryou refused, saying that he wishes to experience childbirth and wanted Bakura see him bearing the fruit of their love on his own. Ryou made no effort to stop his tears or his screams of pain though as the triplets were pushed out of him one by one. He had to be given the scissors treatment as well because of the amount of babies he was giving birth to, but despite crying and screaming in pain, he made no effort to stop pushing unless told so by the midwife. One by one, the babies edged painfully out of him, and one by one, their cries rang through the delivery room as the midwife announced that they were all beautiful pure boys. Lord Seth entered as soon as the midwife allowed him and his nose told him that the triplets were all Whisperer-dominant. Ryou felt in his gut all along throughout his pregnancy that his triplets would be Whisperer-dominant and smiled through his tears, asking Bakura to take real good care of their babies. Bakura could tell from his forced expression that he was just as sad as any other ‘mother’ who was going to lose their child forever, but he just held his words back and nodded in promise. If Ryou could be strong about this, then he had to show his support too.
The entire birth in Domino Motherhood Institution lasted all night and the whole hospital was filled with tiny squalls of babies taking in the first breath of air. Lord Seth had witnessed and smelt through the entire delivery room and had announced that 75 percent of the babies born were Whisperer-dominant, while the other 25 percent were Human-dominant. Out of those Whisperer- and Human-dominant, about 60 percent of them were pure boys and the rest were herms. Those involved in the record-keeping quickly took note of the information so that they could store it in their database later for future reference, while those involved in the delivery services congratulated each other for a job well done and celebrated their success with a light cocktail punch along with Lord Seth and his clan and Maximillion Pegasus after making sure the young ‘mothers’ were tucked in nicely in bed and asleep and their babies put in their cribs nice and warm.
Probably the only person not celebrating with the rest was Seto. Instead of being in a delivery room like the rest of his friends and fellow Whisperers, he was forced to linger around the hospital aimlessly up and down each floors because he was not allowed into the ICU and that his beloved was not one of those ‘mothers’ there pushing and screaming and crying and giving birth to what seemed to be the most beautiful creatures known in mankind’s history. He would pass by the ICU once in a while, but the drapes were drawn, shutting out the view of his beloved and the door was locked, making him unable to enter. He wanted to use magic to go in but he would need his brother’s Millennium Rod for it, and it didn’t take a genius to know that his down-to-earth brother would strongly refuse. His own battle staff did not come with the function of teleportation, so it was pretty much a useful piece of stick for him. He could try using his superhuman to break through the door, but then again, this would attract too much attention, and it would certainly earn him a sound scolding from his brother.
Seto cursed under his breath. Even though he and his friends had been removed of the Forbidden Blue’s curse for this mission, he didn’t find it the least bit comforting being with his mate. He remembered the time Lord Seth and Lord Katz called for the five to the council room of commons, and the cold, authoritative tone his twin brother spoke as he announced his decision…
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FLASHBACK BEGINS
“Have you all learnt your lesson now?” Lord Seth asked, his arms across his chest with his cold blue eyes staring down at them royally.“Milord?” Yami looked up, not sure what he was trying to say.
“Everyone’s worries have come true,” Lord Seth replied. “The young ‘mothers’, including your human counterpart you dwell your emotions upon so much, have been held captive by the very enemies we are fighting against for His Majesty Maximillion Pegasus. They have become collateral damages of the aftershock wars, and it’s your fault your human counterparts are into this. What have you to say for yourselves, brothers?”
The five lowered their heads, not wanting to admit that their Lord was right, but did not dare to speak otherwise.
“Now it has come to this, I have no choice but to allow Lord Katz to undo the Forbidden Blue’s curse so that you may perform your duties to your best efforts. All I need to know now is whether you lot have already learnt your lesson.”
After a rather long silence, Seto knelt on one knee and muttered, “We have wronged you dearly, brother. We ask humbly for your forgiveness.”
“Are you sorry for what you have done?”
“Yes, brother. We had put both our human mates and our clan in perilous danger. We are sorry.”
“Are all of you in unison with this?” Lord Seth turned his gaze at the rest of the four.
“Yes, milord,” the four replied as they, too, knelt the way Seto did.
“Very well,” Lord Seth said, then turned to Lord Katz and ordered, “Release them from their confines, beloved.”
“Most certainly, milord,” Lord Katz sighed happily and came forward to the four. Extending the pendant that kept the Forbidden Blue, he summoned the dragon out and gave it the signal to remove the curse. The Forbidden Blue opened its mouth up wide and blew out white-hot fire that surrounded the five. The fire licked through their skins and burnt out the mark on their shoulder, turning it into ashes of nothingness. By the time the fire subsided and the Forbidden Blue returned to the pendant, the troublesome mark that caused their near-death countless times was gone, leaving their shoulders bare and clean as a baby’s bottom, as if it had never existed.
“Now gather your men, brothers,” Lord Seth said before he left the room. “We are going to war.”
FLASHBACK ENDS
--:--
“Brother Seto?”
Seto turned to see Marik standing before him, his eyes a hint of concern between his maliciousness. To be more exact, his features had seemed to soften up a little more ever since he started caring for his human counterpart Malik. Being in love definitely does wonders to the savage beast. He would’ve laughed at and teased Marik and thanked Malik for being such the submissive masochist if his heart wasn’t so overwhelmed and broken by Joey’s state right now.
“Leave me be, Brother Marik,” Seto whispered just enough for the Royal Executioner to hear.
“I can help you.”
“Does that include waking my Puppy up from his sleepless nightmares?”
Marik shook his head, saying, “But I can help you be by his side.”
Before Seto could register what Marik had just offered, he held out his hand and placed it against the door. A vortex soon appeared and seemed as if it was swallow part of the door he was touching. The vortex grew larger and larger until it was big enough for a person to go through. Soon, through the vortex, Seto could see his beloved lay stoic on the bed without any reaction whatsoever.
“Your Dark Chocolate has really changed you, Brother Marik,” Seto smirked as he looked at Marik appreciatively. “You’re behaving almost like I used to know you.”
“Breathe a word of this and I will make sure your soul never return from the afterlife,” Marik growled warningly, his demonic eyes sporting a hint of embarrassment.
Seto nodded in thanks and went through the vortex into the room. As soon as he entered, Marik quickly closed the vortex and walked off, hoping that no one saw him. Seto made his way towards Joey’s bed and took his hand while sitting down on a chair. As usual, Joey made no attempt to acknowledge his presence and didn’t even so much as flinch at Seto’s touch. His eyes continued to stare at nothing in particular and his lips never moved or utter a peep. Joey would occasionally blink a little and his chest would rise and fall slowly as he lay there with bated breath, but other than that, he was showing no signs of mobility.
“Puppy…? Puppy…Me Seto…” Seto tried to call him in Human Tongue, but seeing Joey did not react, he tried to speak in his own language, “Puppy, please. Look at me. It’s me, Seto, your Dragon. Please wake up.”
Silence replied him. Seto held onto Joey’s hand tighter, his shoulders trembling as he tried to hold back his tears.
“Please, Puppy. Please wake up. I’m so sorry for not rescuing you earlier. I should’ve been there for you. I should’ve been there to stop that Fallen Ethereal from defiling you. Even now I can still smell his putrid essence on you. It tears my heart to know what horrible things you have been through. I’m so sorry…”
Despite him trying hard not to cry, his ice-blue eyes betrayed him and allowed the tears to flow down like rain, droplets falling onto the hand he held. He had never felt so bitter and upset before in his whole life, not even when his parents died in the War and left them all alone to fend for themselves and rule over the Whisperer Clan side by side. His heart felt as if it had been clenched by the toughest claws in the world and then smashed in with the biggest stake you can find. Every inch of his body felt like it was pulled down by chains connected to lead and sunken into the deep sea below. Who would’ve thought loving someone with all your heart and soul and seeing the love of your life slipping slowly away from you would feel so utterly painful?
“I’m…sorry…”
Seto’s head shot up as he heard Joey’s soft, almost inaudible whisper. He looked at Joey and saw two trails of tears falling from the corner of his unblinking eyes. Though the rest of his body still remained stationary, to hear and see Joey’s reaction, however small, was all he needed.
“Puppy…?” Seto cried in Human Tongue, placing his ear near his lips. “What…you…say…?”
“I’m sorry…I’m…sorry…”
“It’s…OK…” Seto assured him, stroking his cheek.
“I’m…no longer…yours…I’m sorry…”
“Shh…”
“Bye…”
“What…?”
Joey’s silence returned again. Again, his Puppy returned to same old stoic state, his eyes blank, his body stiff, his breathing bated and his mind elsewhere. He was gone again in his sleepless nightmares and no matter how Seto shook and called him in both Human and Whisperer Tongue, he made no reaction.
Soon the whole hospital rang loud with Seto’s roar of agony.
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