Joey opened his eyes slowly. Instead of the usual thorn vine garden, he was greeted with the sight of white ceiling tiles and the slow and steady beeps of the heartbeat machine. A few sun rays managed to seep into the cracks of the half-closed drapes from the window that looked out to the city and lined itself throughout the room and against the other side of the wall. The window itself was fogging up because of the cold snow and muffled sounds of people passing by outside the room on both sides. The ticking of the digital clock on the wall showed that it was around 3pm on a cold December afternoon.
“H…How long was I out…?” Joey whispered, his voice a little hoarse because of long-term disuse. He turned his stiff neck a little to look around and noticed that he was in a white room that stank of disinfectant. It didn’t take long for him to remember that he was in a hospital. Scenes of his encounter with Maximillion Pegasus and his days in the Lair came running back into his memory bank as his train of thoughts slowly but steadily unhinged from the rusts of time and turned, working its way through the conscious world. He touched his protruding belly and felt something rather unsettling, but he just smiled and ignored the feeling, thinking it being probably hunger or his babies moving.
As his mind cleared little by little, he turned to the other side to see Seto’s head propped on his arms as he slept while one hand was holding possessively on his. He began remembering the words Maximillion Pegasus spoke to him as he studied Seto’s features. He looked slightly pale and thin, and his hair was a little messy, possibly bed hair or something. There were dark rings under his eyes and Joey could tell he never really had a good night’s sleep—or for his case, a good day’s sleep—and his breathing was slightly ragged, like he had just finished crying. He realized how true Maximillion Pegasus’ words rang in his mind about Seto truly caring about him and not blaming him a single bit. He knew then that if Seto had hated him for what he had done, he wouldn’t be here starving and staying up for him and being by his side. The feeling of Majah’s touches, kisses and his offending member inside him still lingered, but somehow after his talk with Maximillion Pegasus, it didn’t seem so bad anymore. He knew he could handle it if he had Seto by his side, and realized how foolish and selfish he was for letting himself be so childish. Tears fell from Joey’s honey-brown eyes as he reached his other free hand that was touching his pregnant belly over to Seto and stroke his cheek softly.
“I’m sorry, Dragon…I didn’t know…I’m sorry…”
The feeling of Joey’s soft stroke on his cheek slowly made Seto stir from his sleep. He blinked his eyes open and rubbed the sleep off them before looking up to see a sobbing Joey stroking his face tearfully. He immediately shot up and hugged him, purring and whining as tears fell out of his ice-blue eyes uncontrollably.
“Puppy…! Puppy…!” Seto whimpered, kissing Joey’s cheeks over and over again as his own salty tears smeared all over him.
“Oh God, Dragon. I’m so sorry…” Joey sobbed, hugging Seto back tightly. “I didn’t know you’d care…I thought…I thought you’d hate me…”
“No…No hate…”
“I feel so dirty…Ya still luv me even wen Imma dirty ho?”
“Shh…No say that…Not dirty…”
“It…It hurts…”
“I’m…here…”
“No, I mean…It hurts, my stomach…”
Seto let Joey go and noticed that Joey was wincing in pain, his hand clutching his bulging abdomen tightly. A wet spot on the bed indicated that his water had broken. He quickly reached over to press the alarm button to call for medical help. A midwife soon barged in, gasped and hollered for backup, shouting that Joey’s has awakened and has gone into labour. Word began to spread fast of Joey’s awakening as the other young ‘mothers’ who have been following up along with Joey’s gang passed the word-of-mouth about the news, which soon reached to the four’s ears. They hurriedly followed behind the rest to gather around the ICU to see the doctor and midwives rushing in with the necessary equipment to help with Joey’s labour. One of the midwife assistants went to the waiting lounge where Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler spent their nights there to break the news and they, too, went into the ICU to accompany their son before the doctor closed and locked the door and pulled the drapes from all prying eyes.
“Oh my little Joey, I was so worried,” Mrs. Wheeler hugged her son in relief. “You gave us a scare there.”
“Imma so sorry, Ma, Pa, Imma so sorry,” Joey sobbed, yelping as a contraction hit him hard.
“It’s alright now, son. Just hang in there,” Mr. Wheeler rubbed his son’s back. “The midwives are gonna help you now.”
“Ow, ow, ow! Da head! I can feel da head!” Joey screamed as he held onto Seto tight. Seto hugged him back and hushed him, purring at his ear to soothe him and help ride out the pain.
“Looks like the baby’s good to go,” the doctor said as he pushed the blanket up to Joey’s thighs and spread his legs. He inspected for a moment and announced, “Yup, he’s fully dilated now and I can feel the head coming. OK, Joseph, on the count of three: one…two…push!”
Joey sat up with the help of Seto and let out a strangled yell as he pushed with all his might. Voices of coaching from both the doctors and the midwives and his parents echoed throughout the room, all of them helping Joey to keep his strengths up and help him with the delivery. Even those outside the ICU were either biting their nails or praying or silently cheering them on as they gave their moral support to Joey who was suffering the wrath of childbirth inside.
“Almost there,” the doctor, who was in charge of catching the birth, coached. “It’s almost out.”
“Shit, fuckin’ shit! Agh, it hurts!!!” Joey cried, gripping Seto’s hand to the point of almost crushing it.
“Just a little bit more, Joseph.”
Joseph screamed in pain as he pushed the baby out for the doctor to catch. Tiny squalls of the baby’s first breath of air rang throughout the room and everyone, including those outside waiting, breathed a sigh of relief. By then, Lord Seth had heard the news and, along with Lord Katz, stood outside the ICU waiting for the delivery to be over.
“It’s a little pure boy,” the doctor announced as he cut the umbilical cord and passed it to a nearby midwife to be passed to Joey and Seto. Joey, with trembling hands, reached over to take his little baby.
“Oh, he’s beautiful, Dragon, look,” Joey whispered as he showed the baby to his beloved. Seto purred and nuzzled his nose against the baby’s, smiling proudly and fatherly at the sight of the tiny little treasure he and Joey created.
“Dragon…” Seto whispered back as he pointed at the baby. Joey realized that he was naming him.
“Yeah, Dragon. I like dat name…Ow!”
Before he could savour the moment, another contraction hit him, indicating that his other twin baby wanted out. The midwife took the baby from his arms and passed it to another midwife who, in turn, washed and cleaned the baby in a tub of warm water. Joey whined, reaching his hand out to ask for the baby back.
“It’s OK, sweetie,” Mrs. Wheeler said, holding him back. “They’re just gonna clean him up. You got another one you need to take care of.”
“It hurts…I canna do it anymore…I’m too tired…” Joey panted, wincing at the incoming contraction.
“Yes, you can, son. A Wheeler never gives up,” Mr. Wheeler coaxed.
“No…No, I can’t…”
Seto took Joey’s chin and planted a deep kiss on his lips. Neither of them moved. Their lips just pressed together, enjoying each other’s warmth as Seto tried to convey in his own way his concern, love and faith he had on Joey, urging him to be strong. Joey returned his kiss by pressing against him even harder while sobbing. After a couple of minutes being like this, the need for air and the contraction within Joey broke them apart. After coaching Joey into breathing, the doctor quickly told him to push, in which he did.
“That’s very good, Joseph, keep going.”
Joey’s hospital gown was getting drenched with his sweat as he pushed as hard as he could.
“That’s it, son. You can do it.”
Joey practically ripped off his father’s sleeve, but neither cared about that.
“Come on, sweetie, just a bit more.”
Blood, blood and more blood began to seep through the bed sheets and Joey’s head was beginning to spin.
“You’re almost there, Joseph. Keep it up.”
“God, it hurts…!!!” Joey cried, his tears flowing out of his eyes like rain.
“Just a bit more, Joseph,” a midwife coached. “Just give it a big hard push.”
Joey took a deep breath and pushed.
“Almost there. Push harder, Joseph.”
Seto winced as Joey gripped his hand harder than before, but he wouldn’t let go, now that he had him.
“Harder, Joseph, harder!”
“Wat da fuck do ya think Imma doin’?!”
Everyone, including the ones outside winced at Joey’s harsh yell. The four tried to stifle a laugh.
“One more push, I promise, just one more push.”
Joey panted, took another deep breath and let out a strangled scream for the umpteenth time as he pushed down with all his might. Finally a loud, strong cry was heard as the doctor helped the newborn baby he caught to breath. His older brother joined in the crying as soon as he heard his younger brother cried and soon, two little squalling winged infants were in Joey and Seto’s arms.
“Congratulations, Joseph. You have a pair: a pure boy and a herm boy. Good work.”
“Good work, son!” Mr. Wheeler congratulated, patting his son’s back. Mrs. Wheeler was at loss of words as she cried tears of joy looking her son carrying her little Halfling grandchildren.
“They’re perfect, luv. They look just like ya,” Joey spoke, his throat a little sore from screaming for so long. “What do you think, Seto?”
Seto nodded in agreement.
“What do you want to name the other…”
Before Joey could finished, the atmosphere became hushed as Lord Seth entered the room. Joey’s heart skipped a beat. This was it: Lord Seth was going to use his nose to tell whether his twins are Whisperer-dominant or not. Quietly with the cold aura lingering about him, he walked towards Joey who was carrying one of the twins and lowered his head, sniffing silently. Then he leaned forward to Seto who was carrying the other twin and sniffed silently again. He straightened up and gave the knowing look to Lord Katz. Lord Katz understood that gesture and came close to Joey.
“Well? Are my grandkids Whisperer- or Human-dominant?” Mr. Wheeler asked.
“I’m sorry to say that they are Whisperer-dominant,” Lord Katz replied in Human Tongue. “You will have to be part of the Sending Off ceremony, I’m afraid. If you please…”
Lord Katz gestured Joey to pass the twin he was carrying to Seto. Joey’s swollen eyes welled up again as he reluctantly passed the baby to Seto. As Seto regretfully took the baby, Joey begged, “Please, luv, let me at least know their names.”
Seto nodded and jerked his head to one twin, “Dragon,” then jerked his head to the other, “Naga.”
“Dragon, Naga,” Joey repeated. “They sound perfect. Take good care of ‘em, will ya?”
Seto nodded in promise and gave a deep passionate kiss to Joey before leaving together with Lord Katz and Lord Seth to join his fellow Whisperers who were already waiting in a visitor’s lounge with their Whisperer-dominant pups, leaving Joey sobbing in Mrs. Wheeler’s arms and Mr. Wheeler shaking his head in dismay. As they passed by the waiting crowd outside, the four could tell from Seto’s facial expression that Lord Seth had yet again announced another Whisperer-dominant child. They quickly went in and had a group hug, comforting the grieving Joey.
“Are you happy now?” Seto growled under his throat. “I have honoured the tradition, stayed by my mate’s side until he gave birth, and you have broken his heart by announcing that he will never see our pups again. Are you happy now, brother?”
“Brother dearest, please…” Lord Katz pleaded, not wanting the twin brothers to start another fight. Lord Seth turned sharply towards Seto and glared at him.
“Is that a challenge? Even now you defy me. I have yet to reprimand you for that very unrespectable and irresponsible act you allowed happen, making His Majesty come all the way for such trivial matters as your unworthy mate! I should’ve known you have not learnt your lesson! Do you wish to be issued the Forbidden Blue’s curse again?!”
“Go ahead! I’d rather die than be separated from my Puppy ever again! My Puppy had been through so much, now he has to suffer another blow of sadness again. If this is the tradition you take such great pride in, I wish I was never part of this.”
The twins shot a long 5 minute death glare at each other, with Lord Katz worrying in the background. Finally, Lord Seth released his death glare hold and turned around, speaking with his back facing his brother, “Go to the visitors’ lounge and join your fellow brethren. The Sending Off ceremony starts tomorrow at midnight.”
And that, without giving Seto a chance to argue, he gave one last icy look at Seto before he left the hospital without a word, with Lord Katz tailing behind him, leaving Seto to his own thoughts.
--:--
Seto banged at the door of the lounge, fiddling with the knob to see if it would budge. So far, no luck. As soon as Seto entered the room, someone closed the door behind him and locked him from the outside, and Seto found himself facing a whole group of new Whisperer fathers sitting in the room looking rather forlorn. His fellow friends didn’t look too cheerful either.
“It’s no use, brother,” Yami said as he hushed Destiny and Hope. “Ever since Lord Seth announced that the ceremony would be held at midnight tomorrow, we have been, what humans would call, ‘sequestered’. We are isolated from our mates with one of our Royal Guards standing out there guarding the door, letting no one in or out except to let the human midwives in to feed our babies with milk formula or to issue us their daily supply of diapers.”
“Personally, I think Lord Seth is trying to keep us away from our mates,” Bakura commented. “I don’t believe for a single moment that this ‘sequestering’ is meant for all of us.”
“Curse it!” Seto banged at the door one last time before giving it a kick and stomped to a nearby sofa to sit. “Seth is going to pay dearly for this! I am definitely going to give him a telling off after the ceremony!”
“Please, brother,” Duke said as he patted Snow’s back to help him burp. “It’s over now. Our jobs are done. There’s nothing we do about it anymore. Just leave it be. Don’t make it worse as it is.”
“And allow our mates to die of misery and heartbreak?!” Marik growled. “Has Lord Seth not caused enough damage already?! First he punished us for loving our mates, now he’s punishing our mates for loving and carrying our pups to term by separating us like this! How could he have the heart to do this?!”
“After the ceremony, we will never see our mates again. Not even a single parental visitation is allowed…” Yami trembled as he leaned against the wall before slumping down. “H…How…How would I survive without my Light…?”
“My Soldier was so devastated when Lord Seth announced Snow to be Whisperer-dominant,” Duke said as he cradled Snow. “I fear he would do worse to himself than just cry a river.”
“Mine too,” Marik said, his tone sounding a little worried. “Without me to give him ‘special treatment’, I fear he would do himself much more damage than I can give him.”
“My Princess is too fragile to be separated from either of us,” Bakura spoke with a quiver in his voice, “He tried so hard to hide his sadness and pain from me when Lord Seth made the announcement, but I call tell that he is not as strong as he looks.”
Seto remained quiet, listening to his fellow brethren’s woes about their mates’ possible fate after the ceremony. He didn’t want to think of it, neither did he dare to think of it, but he knew deep down in his heart, the possibility of his little Puppy ending up the way his fellow brethren feared their mates may end up as well was no further from the truth.
--:--
“Yeah, sorta,” Joey replied half-heartedly.
“Phew! For a moment there I thought you went back to the zombie’s state,” Yugi said as he wiped away an imaginary sweat.
“I ain’t dat dumb,” Joey chuckled and punched playfully at Yugi’s chin.
Joey and the gang were in Joey’s new hospital room chatting away while waiting for the hour of the ceremony to arrive. After being diagnosed by both the doctor and the psychiatrist, Joey was deemed fit to be transferred to a regular room and free from possible therapy or counseling. The four would come often into Joey’s room to chitchat with him and reminiscence about the days they were pregnant and all their misadventures while helping Joey to cope by talking and discussing about his experience and how he can handle it without being overreacting and over-dwelling on it. The midwives told them that after the ceremony, they will have to undergo the one-month confinement period like all previous ‘mothers’ did after childbirth to prevent their bodies from any possible future complications and to help them heal up both in physical and in strength, especially those who had to undergo Caesarean due to birth complications.
They were issued a steady diet of chicken cooked in rice wine and sugar cane juice and were told to take short walks daily even if it’s just around the hospital grounds or in the recreational area behind the hospital. And everyday the midwives will pay a visit to the ‘mothers’ to be pumped of their breast milk to feed the babies currently looked after by the Whisperers in the visitors’ lounge, but so far they were still not allowed visitations or even allowed to go to the floor where the visitors’ lounge was and gave no explanation as to why the isolation. But Joey and the gang can pretty much guess what’s going on.
“I miss my triplets,” Ryou sighed as he touched his now flat tummy. “I’m so used to carrying them and now that they’re not in me, I just feel…like something’s missing.”
“Why don’t they let us see our baby?” Tristan grumbled. “It’s just not fair! We won’t get to see them anymore and they don’t let us spend some last moments together!”
“I heard it’s because they wanted to remove the attachments between ‘mother’ and child so that they won’t be any trouble during the ceremony,” Yugi explained. “They don’t want us to make a fuss and cry and get all hysterical when our mates leave off with our kids.”
“I guess it’s…understandable,” Malik admitted. “If I have my Night ripped off from me one more time, I swear I’ll go into a crazy murdering rampage, tradition or no tradition.”
“Still, I’d feel happy if I could just hold Dragon and Naga, just this once,” Joey lamented. “I miss them so much.”
“We should’ve admitted to each other about our feelings for our mates sooner,” Malik sighed. “Then we could’ve prayed hard together at the temple and maybe, just maybe, they’ll grant our wish and let us have Human-dominant babies.”
“Unfortunately, statistic-wise,” Ryou said, his mind going into studious mode, “throughout the generations they have been giving birth to more Whisperer-dominant babies than Human-dominant babies. There has never been a statistic offset since the beginning of the ritual, there’s no reason why it should…”
“Would you cut it out?!” Yugi suddenly snapped, shocking everyone. “Who gives a fucking damn about the statistics?! All we want is someone that can be by our side so that we won’t have to spend the rest of our lives being so fucking lonely missing our mates and wondering how they and our babies are doing! I understand that we will never see Yami or Seto or Bakura or the others that we love, but at least we have someone to remember them by! Is that so much to ask?! God, how much more hurt they can do?!”
Yugi soon fell on his knees, broke down and cried, while the others watched in shock. They have never seen Yugi bursting out like this before, not even when they had disputes between themselves and argued. He had always been the pacifier and the peacemaker of the group and never really raised his voice, unless it was out of fear or shock. But deep down, they knew he spoke the truth. Every last word he said was exactly how they felt, and it must’ve hard for Yugi who had been the goody-goody guy in the group to hold it all in.
“C’mere, Yug,” Joey knelt down in front of Yugi and hugged him close to his chest. “Well, s’bout time ya bin honest tuh yerself. It’s alrigh’. Let it all out.”
Yugi bawled and buried his face in Joey’s chest, crying like he hasn’t been crying for ages. The rest of the gang joined in a group hug and let Yugi pour out his sadness and frustrations in their arms.
“I want my Destiny! I want my Hope! I want my Yami! I want them back! It’s not fair! It’s not fair!!!”
“It’s OK, Yug, we’re here for you,” Tristan said, letting his tears fall free, followed by the others.
As they held and comforted each other, a silent figure slinked away quietly from Joey’s door, avoiding from being seen.
--:--
“Alright, brothers. It’s time. You may leave now to the front of the building,” the guard said, “except you, milords.”
“What?” Seto and his brethren were surprised to be stopped in their tracks by the guard. “Brother-in-law, what is the meaning of this?”
“You will see soon,” Lord Katz smiled. “Please come along with me.”
Seto and his brethren were confused as to why the sudden change of atmosphere, but they knew better than to go against the second-in-command of the royal throne. As they gave one last look at the Whisperers following behind the guard towards the direction of the hospital entrance, they followed Lord Katz up to the floor where the staff of the hospital usually have their important, sometimes secret, meetings at the second top floor. Inside, they were shocked to see their human beloved cornered by Lord Seth and a few Ethereals Royal Advisors from the royal office of Maximillion Pegasus.
“Brother! What are you doing to my Puppy?!” Seto demanded, but was held back by Lord Seth’s cold glare.
“Nothing more than I would allow myself to do, if that’s what you are wondering about, my blood brother,” Lord Seth replied, standing between Seto and his brethren and Joey and his gang. “Honestly, the things I do for you ever since you were a pup.”
“What does that suppose to mean?”
“Wat da heck are dey talking tuh each other?” Joey whispered to his friends, earning a group shrug by them as a reply. They couldn’t understand any of this sudden happenings either. One moment they were all prepared to meet their Whisperer mates for the Sending Off ceremony as soon as they heard the clock chimed twelve, the next moment the Royal Advisors came into their room unannounced, ignoring and putting their questioning parents into a deep slumber and ushered them up to the staff’s meeting room and come face to face with Lord Seth, the Lord of the Whisperers of the Night Clan. It all happened so fast that they didn’t even have time to react, and being left in the dark like this was not exactly helping.
“What do you want, brother? Another swearing to you that we will stay away from our human mates? I am not going to do it. I’m sick and tired of following your…”
“Silence, Seto Kaiba!” Lord Seth growled suddenly, making everyone jump. Seto stopped talking. Whenever Lord Seth called him by his full name (the surname was their mother’s name), he knew he meant business, and that he knew better than to interrupt anything his twin brother wished to say.
“Now that I have your attention,” Lord Seth continued, “I was about to propose something to your human counterparts, which is something that has never been done in the history of Ethereal or humankind. This is the first and last time I will ever do such a big favour for you, and no matter how much I despise going against protocol, I…” he hesitated before looking away, his face looking slightly pink on the cheeks, “I have to admit…I do not wish your grief, and it’s the least a blood brother could do for his younger blood brother after all these centuries of hardship.
“I assume you all are able to understand Human Tongue audibly, so I shall switch my language for your human counterparts’ sake,” Lord Seth said before taking a deep breath and faced Joey and the gang, speaking in Human Tongue, “Forgive the sudden surprise, but I do not wish to have any other prying eyes or ears while I do this.”
“Do what?” Yugi asked. “What exactly are we doing here? Why aren’t we part of the Sending Off ceremony?”
“Yeah,” Tristan butted in. “Aren’t we supposed to be at the hospital entrance watching our mates leave with our babies?”
“Well, circumstance that arose has changed the outcome,” Lord Seth replied. “But first, let me ask you all one thing: How much do you love my brother and his brethren?”
“Imma willin’ tuh sell mah soul tuh da Devil ‘imself if I coulda just hav a minute wif mah Seto,” Joey replied wholeheartedly.
“I’ll climb the highest mountain and swim the deepest sea if it means being able to be with Duke Devlin forever,” Tristan replied.
“I’m willing to die for him to save my Master Marik’s life,” Malik replied, his hand on the choker around his neck.
“I’ll fall from heaven and rise from hell just to find my Yami,” Yugi replied, his eyes never leaving his beloved.
“I’d do everything my friends had said they would do for their mates and more just to even catch a glimpse of my Bakura,” Ryou replied despite the blush on his face.
Lord Seth glanced at his royal mate and, after earning a nod from him, turned back to Joey and the gang and said, “What I am about to say is something no one alive or dead has ever done before. Neither Ethereal nor human has ever attempted to do this. It may actually alter the very fabric of your mortal lives forever. So, as you human say in terms of striking deals, ‘take it or leave it’.”
As Lord Seth continued, outside, the snow fell on every human standing at ground level and on every crevice of earth as they watched the Whisperers flew off from their stand towards the direction of the Yami Forest, their flapping wings echoed into the night.
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