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Guess this is it. I’m dying.
Sudden sharp pain in your left arm? That didn’t sound good. Yami closed his eyes and waited. Surely, if he had to die right now, it would be fast.
But then, the pain stopped suddenly.
“The hell?”
Yami stared at his arm and at the black letters that had just appeared there, on his bicep.
“FINRAL,” Yami yelled.
Finral arrived a few seconds later from a portal, “Where to, captain?”
Yami got up and grabbed his cape, “Owen’s.”
“Owen?” Finral asked. “What’s wrong?”
“This,” Yami said, pointing angrily at the ink on his arm.
Finral stared at it and his face crumpled. Yami stopped, turning to face his knight. ‘kay. Not good, then.
“Y-you…” Finral stammered. “—It just appeared, like that?”
“Yeah. Just now. I was sitting there and that thing appeared. It fucking hurt too.”
“...I’ll get Vanessa.”
“No, you’ll open a portal to Owen.”
“No, no. You’ll want to see Vanessa.”
“Why? Am I dying? Do I need the cat?”
“No, it’s not… Yami, sit. Don’t move. Stay put. I’m getting Vanessa, we’ll be right here.”
Yami watched as he disappeared in a portal. What the hell was this thing for Finral to believe that his captain had now become a dog?
Both of Yami’s idiots came out from a portal a few seconds later and Vanessa stared at Yami’s bicep. Unlike Finral, her face didn’t crumple. There was a mix of surprise and fear on her face. Yep. Not good at all. But instead of addressing him, she turned to Finral, “Why did you come get me? These words aren’t mine,” Vanessa said, crossing her arms.
Finral shrugged, “I know they aren’t yours, but Fate’s supposed to be your department.”
She sighed and squinted at the ink, “I mean… It does look like one, yes, but I don’t know much about these either apart from a few tales and legends.”
“Hold up,” Yami said. “What’s this thing?”
“That’s a soulmate tattoo,” Vanessa and Finral told Yami like she would’ve told him the hour of day.
“What the hell is that?”
“You don’t know?” Finral and Vanessa chorused.
Okay, these two will have to stop being the same person because it was starting to get creepy.
“Nah,” Yami answered.
“At all?” Finral said. “You’ve never even heard of soulmate tattoos?”
“Nah. What’s it?”
“Basically, the tattoo is a physical sign of fated love,” Vanessa said.
“What’s that?”
Vanessa shrugged, “Love. But like. Fated.”
“Vanessa, you have to… explain more clearly,” Finral said, although from his frown and how he was shifting his balance, it was plain that he had no idea how to explain it more clearly himself.
Vanessa shrugged again, frowning and absolutely not taking her eyes off the ink, “I don’t know how I could be any clearer, really. Love comes in many ways and Fate is even more doubtful as a concept, so… maybe ask Gordon? He knows random stuff like that. He’s basically a walking library so…”
Yami groaned. Fucking hell, was he going to have every one of his idiots get in one after the other and being useless? If he knew one thing about the squad he had gathered, it was that the less of them knew about something important, the better. Stuff got out of hand rapidly here.
“Nah, don’t get Gordon. You two dumbasses will be enough.”
Vanessa and Finral glanced at each other before sitting down at the table, hands joined and faces serious. Now, Yami only had vague memories of his parents, but the way Vanessa and Finral were looking at him right now was kinda reminiscent of concerned adults, and he didn’t like that. He much preferred when they were their usual idiotic selves.
“Captain,” Finral said way too seriously, “do you know whose words these are?”
“Yeah, that’s Goldie’s.”
“Goldie?” Vanessa asked in a frown.
“Oh, is that William Vangeance?” Finral asked.
“Yeah.”
“Nooo… You know him already?” Vanessa asked with a slight smile.
“Yeah.”
Her face lit up and Yami couldn’t not be relieved. One of his idiots was finally back to being an idiot; that was good. Vanessa smirked, drawing random patterns on the wooden table with her index, “Ooh nice… and um… tell us more about this Vangeance fellow…”
Yami stared back at her in confusion, “That’s the Golden Dawn’s captain, you don’t even know that?”
Vanessa froze, blinked before glancing at Finral, who simply sighed and shook his head in disappointment.
“The Golden Dawn captain… is that the guy with the tacky mask?” Vanessa said.
“That will be him.”
“You’re friends?” The witch asked.
“Yeah, kinda.”
“And… you’re maybe more than friends?”
“Nah.”
Vanessa smirked, patting his hand smugly, “Not yet, captain. Not yet.”
“Yami,” Finral said with one of his stupid grin (the second idiot was back to being an idiot, but Yami wondered if it was a good thing after all) “We can help you change that.”
Yami sighed and got up, taking out a cigarette, “You go back to work.”
“Work?” Finral repeated
“Boring! Come on, take our help!” Vanessa said.
“Yes, we’re good at this!”
Yami doubted that last claim.
“Work. You two. Now.”
They stared back at him for a few seconds before getting up and leaving through a portal. Yami sighed. Alright. He grabbed his communications device.
♣
“Captain, you wanted to see me?”
“Klaus, come in.”
Klaus stopped in front of his captain’s desk. William got up, circled his desk and stood in front of his knight. He knew Klaus well, and he knew that asking him a question that had nothing to do with work was going to be awkward, especially what William was going to ask.
“Please, relax.”
“Yes, Captain Vengeance.”
He wasn’t relaxing at all.
“See Klaus, there is a certain predicament I find myself in and that I would need to talk to you about.”
“I shall do my best to assist you, Captain Vangeance.”
“It appears that I went through what is called… an ‘inking’ yesterday. I may have a soulmate tattoo. I would like to confirm with you whether or not it is one. I heard that your parents are soulmates, hence my request. You would be able to tell if the tattoo is genuine.”
Klaus was about as stoic as ever, except that he was slightly frowning, “Sir, I can try confirming.”
“It’s on my back,” William said.
He started removing his clothes until Klaus had a clear view on the ink.
“It does look like one, captain.”
“I feared that much. Thank you, Klaus, that will be all.”
“Don’t you want to know what’s written, sir?”
“I have a feeling I already know.”
“In any case, sir. This person has terrible handwriting.”
William chuckled. Yes, he did.
“Sir, with all due respect,” Klaus said. “Who would be as uncouth as saying these words to you upon first meeting you?”
William couldn’t help but smile lightly, “I know who.”
As if on cue, William’s communications device rang.
“I shall take my leave now,” Klaus said.
♣
“So, uh…” Yami said. “We’re soulmates.”
“It appears so.”
Yami had called him and asked him if they could meet. The timing was far too perfect for it not to be about this ‘predicament’, especially as Yami would usually say why he wanted to meet.
“‘kay so you got the tattoo,” Yami said.
“Yesterday night.”
“Got it this morning. That’s a drag. Know what it means?”
“Well, I’ve heard tales.”
“My idiots told me it was linked to Fate. I don’t like Fate.”
Of course he didn’t; Fate went against everything Yami stood for.
“Are the ones you call your ‘idiots’ the knights following us, Yami?”
Yami sighed before scratching the back of his head, “Yeah, that’s them.”
“Isn’t that a problem?”
“Nah, let them.”
“Let them?”
“I’ll give them a show if they want one.”
“What do you—?”
Yami offered him a mischievous smile. Oh, he was up to no good… William froze completely, still as stone as Yami’s hands rose and slowly removed his mask before discarding it on a nearby bench. William would’ve liked to keep his mask, solely because he could feel his entire face burn. He could feel excitement bubble in his chest but he tried to remain calm, at least on the exterior.
William had known for a while about his feelings for Yami. He had also known for a while how special and different they were. He simply had never expected that the two of them were soulmates. Most of all, he had never expected that Yami would be completely alright with... all of this.
“Yami..? Your knights are here,” William said, his heart still racing and his face terribly red.
“You shy?” Yami asked with a grin.
William decided not to answer.
“Is that weird ink thing bothering you?”
“No, I don’t care about the tattoo.”
“Ok. I like that answer, Goldie. So, do you want me to stop?”
“No.”
“I also like that answer.”