"I knew I�d find you here." Came a light, mocking voice. The young woman never once turned to face the black haired, sepia-eyed man.
"This is the only place I ever am," She replied rather coldly, "and you know that better than anyone, Yami."
Not looking the slightest bit fazed, Yami made his way over and casually draped his arm over her shoulders. The girl regarded his arm as though a venomous snake before pushing him away. "Kayano, you have no life other than this. You only purpose, to create stars?" He laughed and added, "Kami knows the heavens has more than enough, so you really have no purpose in your immortal life!"
Kayano never once rose to his taunts, but gazed into the coal black of the heavens with icy silver eyes. Long, dark blue hair the color of a stormy ocean hung in bangs about her face and in a long braid down her back. Finally, she answered, "I certainly have more use than a god who can only lurk in the shadows and interfere with mortal lives."
Yami had no reply to this, but pink colored his pale cheeks. "Then I challenge you, Kayano, goddess of the heavens and light," He said, a dangerous gleam coming to his eyes. "Whoever wins decides the fate of both the mortal world and the loser."
Even as he spoke, she calmly reached out to the black of space and the blinding white of the very stars she herself created. Kayano drew out five gleaming strands of black and silver, taking each one in her slender hands and twisting and manipulating them until five perfect stars floated before.
"Do you accept my- are you even listening?!" Yami snapped impatiently.
Even then, she parted her rosy lips and blew on them gently. The stars began to flicker and pulse with the life she�d blown into them. Kayano then guided them to the window of time and space and looked down on the peaceful world beneath her. "Go now," She murmured softly, "Prove that darkness will never win."
A star floated to the void, pulsing a pale white-blue. "Wind."
Then, not even a minute after it left, came a second one, as though chasing after it. It bounced about excitedly, full of energy as its colors changed from sapphire blue to stormy violet. "Water."
The third one was a deep emerald. "Earth."
The fourth star was slightly more reluctant, its red-gold flickering and changing as though it were belligerently snapping at the goddess. "Fire."
Kayano then stopped and frowned; hadn�t she made five? Oh yes, there it was, hovering quietly by her head. "Come here, little one." She coaxed, holding her palm out. The star, a shimmering gold, edged to the window and hesitated only once before going after the other four. "Life."
Yami smirked before saying, "Five little stars? You can�t possibly hope to beat me by using five pitiful stars!" He let out a harsh, barking laugh that rang through the halls. His brown eyes then narrowed. "Let me show you how to do it."
He reached into his robes and drew out five black stones. Stepping to the windows, he selected a stone that had a strange mist hanging about it, and threw it down to the earth. "Illusion."
"Turmoil." Down went a second one, constantly changing from black to the deepest blood reds.
The third stone had an eerie white power about it, the kind that froze even the bravest warrior to walk the earth. "Deception."
The next black stone was literally covered with blood, dripping red even as it was flung down to earth. "Violence."
The final one was slightly larger than the rest and tinged with a sickening green. "Disease."
Turning to Kayano, Yami folded his arms behind his head and said, "Now we wait."
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Upon a humble little village known as Seisha, a shrill cry rang through the early morning and then cheering echoed throughout the land. "It�s a boy!" A blue-eyed man stood over his dark haired wife and proudly held out his new son, letting everyone see him.
The baby blinked up at his father and sniffed at the tuft of dark hair that fell over his forehead. "This is a great day for you and your wife, Aden. What will you name him?"
"Heero."
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"Mama, look he�s crawling!" squealed the little red haired girl, pointing excitedly at her infant brother. Sure enough, the brown haired child was awkwardly crawling about the floor, gazing up at his mother and sister with the one visible green eye that wasn�t half obscured by his bangs.
Their mother with the same lively green eyes and fire red curls smiled and patted her daughter on the head. "That�s wonderful, Catherine. Your father will be happy to hear that. Now do you want to help me put Trowa to bed?"
"Yeah!" Before her brother could blink, Catherine scooped Trowa into her arms and scampered off.
Safely tucked into bed, the baby slept soundly, never noticing the way willow branches curled in through the open window to graze his forehead.
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"You have to come quick, my wife�s having our baby!" The man cried, his tawny hair flying about his face as he began pulling the midwife to his house.
"Wait!" shouted another man, with black hair and bronze skin, "My wife�s in labor too!"
"Your wife can wait!" Timon Maxwell yelled, still dragging the poor woman down the road.
"No, she can�t!" Xiao Tien Chang yelled back.
"For heavens� sake, I�m fine!" Dara huffed, violet eyes flashing dangerously, pushing both her husband and the midwife aside and stomping off to Kami knew where. "I�m perfectly capable of having a baby myself!"
"In that case," Chang quickly grabbed the midwife�s arm, "You should come with me-"
"I don�t need help! I can deliver a baby myself!" Mae glowered and headed back to their home, her scarlet robes flowing behind her.
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It had been a prosperous season; four boys had been born in those few months, one in the afternoon of the first month, another born in the morning of the second month, just before dawn, and two more near evening of the third, only seconds apart; now a fifth had been brought to the world, just by midnight, a week before summer began.
"He looks like you." The father murmured fondly at his wife, who lay exhausted in their bed. Their baby boy lay bundled in a thick blanket, cooing sleepily. Isham Winner frowned and then asked, "Are you sure it�s a he?"
"Yes, I�m sure," Quatrina replied from behind closed eyelids, "If you don�t believe me, you can take a look."
Isham chuckled and gently ran a large finger down the baby�s face. Thick blond hair sprouted from the little head
and long golden lashes rested on round, rosy cheeks. Maybe he also had Quatrina�s eyes�
His thoughts were broken off as five little bluebirds fluttered onto their windowsill and began to sing. "Oh look," Quatrina mumbled drowsily, "Bluebirds�"
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Little Trowa lay in his bed, watching the pale moon from his window. Mama and Cathy always put him to sleep far too early. He didn�t understand why he couldn�t stay up like everyone else�
Sleep wasn�t too far off, reaching out with dark hands� as he started to drift off, he felt a chill run through his body. Everything that was once warm and safe and familiar was dangerous and evil. He had no idea what was going on, why he was so frightened when he had no need to be, shaking and sweating as he was; he just knew he had to get of there, and fast.
Jumping unsteadily out of bed, he managed to toddle to the door, still clutching his blanket to his chest. He had to get out, away from the evil he felt, the fear that was tearing through his mind. Trowa continued to alternately crawl and walk down the dark hallway, whining in frustration that his little legs couldn�t carry him any faster.
He suddenly tripped on his blanket and he looked up to see Catherine watching him silently, her violet eyes shining oddly. "Where are you going, Trowa?" She inquired, her voice quiet and low.
Trowa blinked and looked more closely; wait, that wasn�t his sister! Her violet eyes grew wider and darker until they resembled the empty, gaping eyes of a skull. Her dark red curls grew longer and blood spilled onto the floor in rivulets that were once thick locks of hair. The boy couldn�t understand what was happening, but he knew that this girl, if she were even human, was most definitely *NOT* his sister, and that he needed to be as far away from her as possible. Screaming in terror, he backed away, his hair mussed, his eyes wide with fear.
"Trowa? Trowa? What are you doing here?" The baby immediately stopped screaming at the sound of his mother�s voice and clutched at her desperately with small hands. All fear and darkness melted away and everything was all right again; completely forgetting what had happened mere seconds ago, he allowed his mother to tuck him back into his bed.
Meanwhile, Catherine watched silently from the shadows, her pretty little face twisted into a bitter scowl. And she had been so close too�
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Kayano was also watching, but unlike the ten who would fight the battle between herself and Yami, she couldn�t intervene directly as Deception almost did. "So," She murmured, "Deception finally shows herself� and in the guise of safety. How fitting."
She frowned, worrying her lower lip; Yami had at least one advantage over one of her own because of Deception�s older age. It wouldn�t matter once Earth grew and matured, but if Deception was ever allowed a second opportunity, she would most likely succeed in destroying him before Earth could mature to the peak of his strength. For all she knew, the little girl was probably going to try again the next night.
But then� icy silver eyes strayed to the full moon. It was quite clear, no matter how little Yami let slip, that Deception�s powers would only work during the full moon, whereas Earth�s powers, and the powers of the other four, had been evident from the time of their birth. If she were right, Illusion, Turmoil, Violence, and Disease would have the same limitation as well.
The remaining four had yet to show their faces; Yami had made sure to disguise them well, unlike Deception, who had sprung at the first chance she�s seen. Yet time would tell, for at one point, all five Shadows would use their powers and reveal themselves to the five Stars and Kayano�s own watchful eyes.
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Eight-year-old Sally swung her feet from her perch on her father�s table as he carried in a little boy with black hair and equally dark eyes. "Just a routine check-up," He said cheerfully, setting the child next to her, "Keep an eye on him for a sec."
Wufei, for his part, kept silent and eyed the girl warily, who promptly stared back with her own bright eyes- far too bright. "You have pretty hair," She said suddenly, reaching out to touch the silken black hair that was too long to keep in place, but too short to tie back, "It�s really shiny and soft."
The child raised a dark eyebrow, but said nothing; Papa always said girls were funny like that. And yet, there was something disturbing about the way she was touching his hair, gentle, but just barely bordering, as if she were heartbeats away from ripping it out. Just then, he felt a strange chill and a brief moment of weakness before she took her hand away and the doctor came back in.
When the man had done his work, Wufei hopped off and scampered to the door, where his mother was waiting. She took him by the hand and led him to house down the road. A woman with long blonde hair was waiting with a baby with the same golden hair. "Play nice," His mother instructed, gently shoving him forward to the toddler sitting on the grass. Wufei watched as his mother and her friend disappeared inside the house before turning and regarding his new friend with curious black eyes.
The child stared back, apparently observing him as well; large blue eyes blinked and a finger was inserted between rosy lips and vigorously sucked on. Wufei leaned back and scratched his head, not really sure if this strange yellow-haired baby was a boy or a girl; he would certainly be disappointed if his new friend turned out to be some girl. Unable to think of any other option, the black haired boy quickly grabbed the other and stared down the child�s diaper- yep, definitely a boy.
Wufei then straightened the boy�s rumpled clothing- or at least tried to. He then sighed and crossed his arms; gods, this was boring�
He began to feel a funny pain in his head, not much, but enough to be considered annoying. Wufei rubbed his temples the way he�d seen his father do after having a vein pop out of his forehead, but the pain just increased. His vision began to blur and he swayed and crumpled to the grass in a heap.
Quatre watched as his friend fell, not really sure what to make of it. Why was his friend acting so funny? After several minutes, it was clear, even to a child as young as he, that something was wrong with the black haired boy. The other lay curled in a tight ball on the grass, moaning in pain as sweat ran down his face. Quatre�s brows lifted in alarm and he looked around for his mother. Mommy would make things better, she always did.
Looking around, the blond didn�t find his mother anywhere. Instead, he saw a pretty lady with blue hair standing in front of him.
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Kayano watched as Disease released her poisons into Fire; the Shadows had some semblance of power even without the full moon, when their powers were strongest. Her silver eyes narrowed as she watched Fire buckle under the poisons. She had to act fast, otherwise he would die within minutes- but� Kayano hesitated, biting her lip; none of the gods were to interfere; they had long learned not get involved with such challenges. Still, a mischievous smile curved her lips; she didn�t have to interfere *directly*�
Stepping from her chambers, Kayano flew down to the earth, to the little cottage where the two little boys were. Fire was writhing on the grass, just barely alive. Life watched nervously, not sure what was happening to his friend. The goddess smiled at Life and motioned for him to come forward; if she could get Life to even just touch the dying Fire, it would heal him. "Go on," She murmured gently, "Just touch him."
Tilting his blond head, Life awkwardly crawled over and placed his little hand on Fire�s dark hair. Instantly, Fire stopped shaking and sat up, looking dazed, but all right. Kayano smiled in triumph and nodded happily. "Thank you, little one." She said, patting Life�s head and disappearing.
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Upon returning to her room, Kayano raised her eyes and said in a clear, defiant voice, "I know you�re here, Yami and I know you can hear me. Try anything you want, but your darkness will never reign, so long as I live."
From the deepest recesses of darkness, Yami scowled, his sepia eyes a murderous black.
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Yes loyal readers, another series by me. Hopefully it�ll go over better than the others� E-mail! I�ll only write more of this if I have feedback so please write me!