Cursed Yoshi

 

Chapter 43 = Questions without answers

 

Disclaimer: Although all characters here are of my own invention, the original idea of Yoshies, Birdos, etcetera, are copyright of Nintendo, and I make no money from writing this.

 

Marcus was sitting outside Visali’s flat with his arms around his knees, crouched down with his cloak over him, staring down at the floor. He hadn’t gone inside, nor had anyone come out to see him, and he had a very good idea why, which he was pondering over as he sat motionless on the floor.

What did I do back there?

Not even with his newfound knowledge of Octotheism did Marcus find comfort nor an answer to this question. He held his arm out and stared at the palm of the hand that had fired off the blast of energy, though he couldn’t see any difference to how it had looked before. Even the ring on his finger looked the same, the gold still shining, the rubies still as pretty as they had been when he had first seen it, held in Alziana’s outstretched hand…

More to the point… how did I do it?

He had been angry… furious that anyone could inflict such pain on a little baby… but he had been angry before, and nothing like this had happened. Maybe it was connected to something recent… he’d become seventeen recently, but that probably wasn’t it… it wasn’t going to be Shiala… what could it be?

Another thought crossed his mind. If he learned how to control this power, could he stop himself from using it needlessly? Perhaps he’d use it to win any fight he got into… and he might let it corrupt him, using it to extort, threaten, or worse…

Some of what the gods mentioned went through his head, and he nodded slowly to himself. They didn’t want to tell him for his own protection… and now, he understood what they meant, and silently, he made a vow never to use or attempt to use his strange powers, no matter what.

The door opened slowly, and Marcus looked up to see Shiala’s gentle face peek around it, looking at Marcus carefully, before she cautiously stepped outside and bent over to put a hand on his shoulder. He stood up, and she hugged him tightly, sniffling a little, but no other words passed between them; he knew that she still trusted him, and she knew that he still cared for her.

“Marcus… I’m scared… for the first time in my life, I’m truly scared…”

He gave her a consoling pat on the back and replied, “I think I know why… but please, trust me, there’s nothing to be afraid of… I have no intentions of attacking you or hurting you in any way… I love you, Shiala, and any wound I were to inflict upon you would hurt me just as much.”

She swallowed heavily and continued, “That’s not what I’m afraid of… I have no doubts that you won’t hurt me, or try to, but… I… Marcus, let’s go outside, I really need to talk to you… alone.”

 

Manny gently touched the little baby’s nose with the tips of his fingers, praying under his breath for Tamaroro’s recovery as Sira sat patiently next to the bed the green Yoshi kid had been lain out on. Even with the aid of her magic, he had still not roused, and Sira had said that it would be touch-and-go as to whether he would recover from the blood loss, which her magic couldn’t cure. She had been quite shocked at first when Shiala had brought him in, even allowing a tear or two to trickle down her cheeks, but she said nothing except for the incantations of the spells she used to heal the battered child.

Visali was being oddly quiet, pacing back and forth with his hands behind him, and Dave was staring silently at the baby in partial shock and partial awe, amazed himself at how anyone could hurt something that he found so cute and endearing. Manny had simply decided to stay with the baby out of a lack of little else to do, wary of talking to Marcus but also not wanting to speak of what his friend had done to the others present.

After a period of time, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned around to see Visali standing there, who beckoned to him and motioned for him to go out of the bedroom, heading for the door with the blue Yoshi in tow. “I can’t take this… I’m going to Club Veils for a bit. Do you want to come?”

Manny was about to decline, but felt that he’d need a drink eventually, and grabbed his cloak, dropping his sword down next to the table beside the sofa, along with his knives. Even if someone attacked him, he didn’t think he’d feel like putting up a fight anyway.

 

“Marcy, have you ever heard of Psionics?”

Somewhat comforted by hearing her use her pet name for him, Marcus shook his head as he stood face-to-face with her outside on the street. It was getting colder as the day became night, and he was grateful for having his cloak wrapped around him, providing some shelter from the wind coming up behind him.

“No, I haven’t. What is it?”

“It’s an ancient supernatural power supposedly given to all those who are descendants of Karshina… a power so destructive and chaotic that it could supposedly destroy the world if put into the wrong hands. They say that feral communities in days gone by were able to use Psionics… one of the reasons they were hunted down and massacred by the humans.” Shiala paused to spit in distaste at the mention of them, before continuing. “Not all feral communities could still use it, but that didn’t stop the humans…” she paused to spit again, “…from trying to kill us all. They say that the last feral community that could use Psionics was exterminated in 2063, but… it is also said in some of our legends that anyone with feral blood has the potential.”

“It all fits in with what the gods said…” Marcus murmured absently. “Feral heritage… a great power… a more powerful effect if I had a child with you rather than Alziana… it all fits… but it creates more questions than it answers…”

Shiala reached up and put a soft hand on the side of his face. “I’ll be by your side no matter what, but… they say that some Psionics users were corrupted by their power, moreso with the greater ones, and that the more they used them, the eviller they became…”

“I won’t use them.” Marcus said flatly. “I won’t… I won’t put myself or you or anyone else in danger because of them. There’s no point in doing that… it’ll be a senseless waste.”

“It’s okay.” Shiala said tenderly. “I’ll still love you, no matter what happens to you… my feral instincts take over some times, but I can repress them enough to make what we have work…”

“You shouldn’t be hiding anything.” Marcus whispered softly, leaning forwards and rubbing noses with her. “You won’t be Shiala if you’re concealing part of you…”

She rubbed back, before tilting her head to give him a kiss, but was interrupted when the door to the building Visali lived in was flung open, and both he and Manny walked briskly out of it, blanking Marcus as though he wasn’t there, striding past and going around the nearest corner.

Marcus gave a low sigh, and Shiala stroked his fins lovingly. “He’s just a little confused by all this… wouldn’t you, if Manny suddenly started throwing lightning around, or juggling fireballs, or something like that?”

He gave a quiet chuckle, and was about to reply when Shiala kissed him, putting everything else out of his mind as he put his arms around her and returned it, drowning out his worries in a flood of hormones, pleasure, and a strong feeling of love…

 

“Look, he’s coming to!” Dave cried, pointing at the baby Yoshi. Sira looked over and got to her feet quickly, coming over to it and leaning across as it gave a feeble whimper and crouched into a foetal position. The pink Yoshi gently put her hands under its back and lifted it up, cradling it in her arms carefully as it opened its eyes and looked around.

“Where… where’s that nice Yoshi who saved me?” it asked in Yoshian.

“Marcus?” Sira replied, and it nodded. “He’s just outside, I believe… if not, he’ll be back some time.”

“I wanna thank him…” It said meekly. “He saved my life… I’d be in the afterlife with mommy and daddy if it hadn’t been for him…”

“He’ll be back, don’t you worry… Tammy, is it?” She replied with a smile.

“Yes, Tammy…” it answered, looking around, until it turned its head to look behind it and caught sight of Dave. Tammy gave a cry of fright and scurried up out of Sira’s hands, over her shoulders, and leapt down onto her saddle, crouching with its hands over its eyes and whining.

“Oh… uh, Tammy, this is Dave… he’s a friend… he won’t hurt you… and if he does, he’ll suffer, won’t he?”

She put a very malicious tone in her voice during the translation, and Dave swallowed heavily, managing a weak, “Yes…”

Slowly, the baby lifted its hands and let Sira take him from her saddle, carrying him over to Dave so that he could wave to the little child and show he had no hateful intentions towards it. Sira then cradled Tammy again and crooned, “So, Tammy… what happened to your parents?”

“They were killed…” Tamaroro replied quietly. “I dunno why… I don’t know who by… I ran and hid when they came… I saw one of them, but… I couldn’t stop them from killing mommy and daddy…”

Sira decided not to press the matter. “Well, we’ll look after you now, okay?”

“Thanks!” it cried cheerfully, grabbing hold of her chest and hugging tightly.

“You’re welcome.” She replied cheerfully, ignoring Dave as he shrugged and held his hands out to his sides, asking for a translation.

 

All was quiet within the hotel room, except for that faint, wet sound audible when you are close to people who are kissing repeatedly, and the occasional shuffle of bedclothes as Marcus and Shiala lay on top of them, their lips firmly locked, everything forgotten except each other, the skin on their chests rubbing gently as they moved during their kisses. Kissing was all they were doing, as Marcus knew when to stop; though they had taken off all of their gear and left it strewn around the floor from their frenzy to remove it, they had gone no further than the intense, passionate kisses they were sharing, and the close contact that they enjoyed so much.

Marcus was, as the humans sometimes said, ‘in heaven’; every moment was one of complete and utter pleasure, his senses awash with joy, and a feeling of total bliss came over him as they continued their embrace. He was lying on his back with Shiala on top of him, his arms firmly grasped around her slender body, feeling happier than he ever had before in his life as they repeatedly kissed on the bedclothes, alone together, the only time they could fully express their feelings for one another…

I never want to lose this. Marcus thought, as he enjoyed the warm feeling she gave him.

 

“Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, sir!” came the reply.

Foryo nodded to himself quietly as he gazed through his crystal ball once more. Another night’s worth of scrying had finally pinpointed ‘Marcus’ in the city of Corvan… and Foryo had a few people that could take him out before he even got to Sansata. He was damned if he was going to listen to any Yoshi, God of Death or not, telling him how to attack his targets, or to stand back entirely.

“I want you to find and locate the brown Yoshi known as ‘Marcus’… he slipped through my net at Lince, so I’m counting on you to get him, or get one of his friends and use them to find him. He has red eye outlines, so he should be easy to spot if you get close to him.”

“Yes sir!” His operative replied. Only her head was visible in the crystal; she looked much like a Yoshi, but had the view been able to show more of her, it would be clear she was much, much more…

“I don’t like dealing with normal Yoshies, but I feel I can trust you. I don’t care how you do it, just kill him. You should be able to get the city guards to help… he’s accompanied by a feral Yoshi, and they’re still looking for them. He’ll probably protect her and get landed in prison… and they’ll both be executed, if I know the city guards of Corvan.”

“Understood, sir.”

“And if you fail…”

“I don’t need to be told, sir!” she hastily replied, her voice not carrying so much as a shred of fear or hesitation.

“Still… if you fail, and if he doesn’t kill you… when I get hold of you, you’ll be worse than dead…”

 

To be continued…