"Mika, please let me explain!" Mariteus said out the clichéd phrase that unfaithful men offered to their lovers after being caught betraying them. Of course, Mariteus wasn't an unfaithful man like them, but nevertheless, this did not stop Mikamiko from refusing to listen to him.

"Enough!" Mikamiko spoke in a tone so cold that is was indescribable, even for the likes of a "talented" poet like yours truly. *ahem*

"Get out of my sight, right now! If you don't leave me alone, I will leave you! I might even do something that both of us will regret painfully!"

Mariteus flinched for a moment. He was truly afraid that Mikamiko might do what she had threatened to. He saw that no matter what he did, he would not be able to convince Mikamiko of his innocence. For she had seen a scene that was crueller than anything, and now she has retreated into her old shell; the shell that Mariteus had finally succeeded in cracking after a year of knowing her. He was also tired. Tired that no matter how hard he tried, there was always something in his way of achieving his goal, blocking his destination.

"Alright, Mika. I know that you need sometime to think this over. I will just leave you alone, for now. If you have decided to listen to my explanation, just call out my name, and I will appear before you, just as I always have. Take care of yourself..." Mariteus gave a lingering look at Mikamiko, and disappeared like dust into the air.

Mikamiko could barely stop herself from breaking down in front of Mariteus. When he finally left the room like a misty fog, her last resolve had broken, and she knelt into the floor in helpless abandon. The fact was, even though she had put on such a tough expression in front of him, she could hardly control herself inside. Oh, how she wanted to reach out and touch him, and tell him that she had forgiven him long ago. In the first place, she had felt that there was something very fishy about the situation. True, when she first stumbled upon the two of them naked together, she felt deeply betrayed. But on the other hand... she had seen with her own eyes how dense this Ming... no, Mariteus was about his sister's feelings about him. She knew just how straight he was; even a wooden ruler could not compare to him! It is just not possible that he would sleep with Eva willingly!

So why did she not accept his explanation then? The truth of the matter was…she was too cowardly to do so. This Mariteus was a God in his old world, and the implications involved were enormous! She must consider if she was capable enough to be his companion, his partner, in this complicated world that Mariteus was in. And from what she had heard from him previously, it seems that he was involved in a full-scale war between his family and himself! She was not sure if their love for each other was strong enough to withstand the challenges, the hardships that they were soon to face......

And Mikamiko started to do what she always did when faced with a hard decision...... she retreated into her old shell, obscuring everyone from the outside world from her inner self...

Strains of the opening song of her favourite anime show started to sound in her ear. Mikamiko distractedly looked up at the television set in an effort to drown out the tumultuous thoughts in her mind, but instead...

The Creator: Noooooooo! Don't! Mika, turn off the TV, or you'll become hypnotised, like me! But you won't be able to wake up five times after listening to "*Aku.Soku.Zan*" cos your programme wasn't altered by the Author!!

Mikamiko: Relax lah. Nothing will happen to her in the end...(digs her ear with toothpick)

The Creator: How can you say that! Aren't you anxious about someone who has the same name as you? So heartless! (Shoves the toothpick deep into her ear)

Mikamiko *with blood spurting out from her ear*: HEY!! KIAMPAH AR LI!! HOW CAN YOU DO THAT? MY EARDRUM MIGHT BE BROKEN, YOU KNOW??

The Creator: Hmmph. Who ask you to be so BOH CHUP?

Mikamiko (with exaggerated patience): Let me state for the record. She's the heroine. So nothing bad will happen to her. Okay? Mariteus will rescue her anyway, or someone else. Chill out, will you?!!

The Creator: Well. I'm just anxious cos both of them are so useless. Can't even stand up to a little test!

Mikamiko: A little test? A LITTLE TEST? Let's see how good you can stand to such a test, if you were in their shoes!

The Creator: They're supposed to be able to show incredible strength of will and resolve. If not how else they got to become the hero and heroine of the story?

Mikamiko: Who made that kind of rule anyway? Speaking of heroine, she doesn't look like one at all. Normally heroines will have more than one suitor, she's too pathetic, eh?

The Creator: Yeah lor, now you see my point of view?

Mikamiko: But that makes Mariteus' job easier, which isn't. Maybe we should give that guy a break. He has enough obstacles as it is, with Mika being so weak and all.

The Creator: Maybe. But it's not up to us. It's up to the Author. That bitch who asked Arian to hypnotise me. By the way, I don't see her or Mysterious anywhere. Are they dead or something? I wish so.

Mikamiko: I heard from some anonymous source that she was under psychiatric treatment for schizophrenic tendencies. If she's treated, we might disappear from the face of the Earth forever!

The Creator: Heaven forbid!! Let's, like, stay away for a while, in case she really gets cured!

Mikamiko: Agreed. Do you think, Mysterious has disappeared because...

The Creator: N...nah!!!

Mysterious Voice: Why... Talking bad about me? Heard my name mentioned...

The Creator: Err, no lah. We were just talking about how empty it is without you!

Mikamiko: (giggle)

Mysterious Voice: Yeah, right. I wonder how Eva is doing? I remember that she was acting pitiful all the time in the last chapter.

Mikamiko: You seem to be awfully hard on her!

Mysterious Voice: (shrugs) Can't stand deceit of any kind.

The Creator: You really harsh, man.

Mysterious: Yeah lar, Year lar, just because the Author is not here does not mean we can hog the story...

Eva stopped talking to her belly. She sensed someone standing behind her. This someone brought with her the scent of death that was unmistakable to Eva, for she had dwelt there for two weeks and knew it well enough to recognise it.

"S...skylar, is that you?" Eva ventured tentatively, for she was unsure whether it was really whom she thought it was.

"Yes, it is I, Eva." The wispy figure of Skylar materialised before Eva, regaining her form bit by bit.

"Eva, I came to tell you that you no longer need to fufill your promise to me." Skylar smiled gently for her moment, but her eyes were still filled with sorrow. "I realise now how unreasonable a request it was. I cannot expect you to do so much for Arian, like I did, for you do not love him at all..."

"B...but Skylar. I wish to do so! I am willing to!"

"Do you?" Skylar asked quietly, raising her eyebrow a bit. However, as quiet as her tone was, it was strong nevertheless and weakened Eva's resolve quite a bit.

"Eva, you no longer need to do this for me. You have already done too much, way beyond your call of duty. And right now, I do not care so much either. I have decided to let go..." Skylar looked away for a moment to collect herself. "And so should you."

"What do you mean, you have decided to let go? Do you no longer love Arian?" A shocked Eva asked. Never in a million years would she have expected this to happen.

"I still love him, very much. But I have decided to ask Hades to help me forget him, by drinking the water from the River of Lethe. He is happy to oblige me, so I have come here to bid my last goodbyes." Skylar stared in the distance with shimmering eyes filled with unshed tears.

"How can you bring yourself to do that? Will you be able to give it up? After so many years of pining after him? You can't change destiny, if that's what you are thinking about!"

After all, I couldn't change my love for Mariteus, which is still so deep after so many years, even after we came to this world... Eva thought bitterly.

"If I do not try, of course I will never change my destiny. But this is a new world, currently governed by different Gods. I want to see what will happen if I attempt to change my life. If I still can't forget him, so be it! But I do not want to succumb to fate before trying to defy it."

"No matter how hard I try to convince you, you still will not change your mind? Even if I give your body back to you?"

"Don't be silly, Eva. Bodies are not interchangeable like clothes. Cherish this life like it is the greatest treasure in the world, if you really want to thank me for it." Skylar was suddenly angry at Eva, for thinking of life so lightly. "One fault we Yisheigains have is that we tend to treat life lightly, just because we are Gods and Goddesses. But this is a different world. Everything operates differently."

Eva was shocked for the second time, for Skylar has never been so reproachful towards anyone before. She would not raise her voice at anyone, even if they were in the wrong. Maybe the new world did change her a bit.

"And I have another piece of advice for you. If you still carry on being so stubborn, you will not only hurt yourself, but the one you love as well. And the babies that you are carrying. If you do not think for yourself, think for your children!"

"Skylar. Do you know that you sound very much like Fabian? He said something to that effect the last time he was here!" Eva was returning to her old self again, making cracks at every opportunity there was.

"Well. Maybe because the both of us have found a way to change our destiny?" Skylar thought for a moment. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost! Well, you have but..."

"Did you say BABIES? But I only have one..." Eva stared at Skylar, horrified. How could there be two, unless...

"Well, that's because I could sense that there were two lives in your body, and assumed it to be from two foetuses. Couldn't you sense it?" Skylar was puzzled, for Eva had the same mind-reading abilities as her.

"NO! This can't be happening! How could this have happened to me! I only wanted Mariteus' child, not that bastard's! Not his, not his!" Eva screamed many "Not his 's " hysterically, and it took all of Skylar's strength to keep her from biting her tongue in her state of madness. She shook her head at the mental beating Eva had to take time after time, but knew that there was nothing she could do to soften or stop it, for she too, had played a part in this mental beating.

The Creator: What part? How did she play a part in Eva's suffering?

Mikamiko: Stupid! She was the one who made Eva promise that she must make Arian happy. And that was how she got to be raped by the bastard. And that was how she got pregnant by his seed!

The Creator: I still don't understand how it is possible that she could get pregnant by two Gods at the same time!

Mikamiko: Well, they are Gods. Anything can happen. Maybe their thingys are stronger than mortals'.

The Creator: What are thingys?

Mikamiko: If you don't know, it's your problem. I can't possibly write that down if this were to be shown for public viewing! For a twenty-something-year-old, you sure are ignorant about such things!

The Creator: What things?

Mikamiko: Grrrr... Never mind!

The Creator: And what will happen to Mika? Will she be raped by him as well?

Mikamiko: I don't know... he hates her, but he has been awfully disgusting these days! Maybe nowhere to satisfy his lust for you-know-who, so he vents it on the women around him?

The Creator: You have a sick mind!

Mikamiko: HEY! Not me, okay! It's the Author, the Author!

The Creator: It's all and the same anyway...

Mikamiko: That means you're sick too. Hahaha, pot calling the kettle black...

The Creator: Am not!

Mikamiko: Are too!

The Creator: Am not!

Mikamiko: Are too!

Mysterious Voice (shakes head): Such a bunch of childish brats!

The Creator and Mikamiko (in unison): You're the sickest of them all!!

The Author suddenly materialises, appearing dazed and sad.

The Author: I just came back from the shrink's office.

The three stooges: And?????

The Author: He said that I'm suffering from an overdose of...

The three fellas: Of what???

The Author: OF *SAITOU HAJIME* INFATUATION! (eyes suddenly turn murderous) *AKU.SOKU.ZAN*!!!!!!!!!

The Creator, Mikamiko and Mysterious' heads all fall off from their bodies, and their blood spurts all over the place, making it sticky and smelly, as if a rain of blood had fallen in the room.

Fallen head of the Creator: Even if she wasn't cured, we would still disappear, won't we?

Fallen head of Mikamiko: Yeah...it's all Mysterious' fault!

Fallen head of Mysterious: What... why do you always shift the blame on me?

Fallen head of Mikamiko: Whoever said that he wanted to take over the Author's place, and till now still hasn't had a bit of action to prove his point? You coward! And I was so anticipating it! At least you were easier to control than that mad Author!! (grumble grumble)

Fallen head of Mysterious Voice: HEY, how many times must I tell you that I'm a she, not a he???

The Author: SHUT UP, OR I'LL USE A NUCLEAR BOMB AND BLOW YOU ALL INTO RADIOACITVE DUST!!

All three: OH MY YISHEIGAI GOD!!

Important disclaimer:

Words in between to *'s belongs Nobuhiro Watsuki and other appropriate parties respectively. They are mentioned only for entertainment purposes. So don't sue me, okay? I'm just an unemployed parent-dependant idiot who has nothing good to do and has to resort to writing senseless stories about Outer World Gods... sob sob sniff sniff...

Notes:

Meaning of some weird words:

KIAM PAR AR LI: This refers to something like "Are you asking for a beating?". This is a somewhat Singaporean, or more accurately Hokkien slang. Go ask any Singaporean or Hokkien friends, if you have any, and they will be able to explain more accurately. If not, I guess this would do.

Lar, lah, loh, lors: Like above, a type of slang. No real meaning actually, but added to emphasize a certain tone or add a certain flavour to the sentence.

Boh chup: Also slang words, means can't be bothered type of mentality.

Whenever I say yours truly, I am referring to myself. If you don't already know, that is.

Last chapter, I mentioned that if you don't know what the words in asterixes mean, you can find the search engines for it? Well, my hand is itchy again, so I decided to type them out. The above disclaimer still applies to this explanation, ok?

*Samurai X* or *Rurouni Kenshin*: Am not too sure if the spelling is right, but this is basically an extremely popular animation/manga series that is blowing the whole world over. I personally will recommend it to anyone I know, and I am doing it now. It actually teaches a lot of meaningful things about life. I definitely like its Zen-like feel the most. However, it' kind of violent, especially the manga, so if you'e a kid, maybe you would like some parental guidance when you watch it? I don't know.

*Saitou Hajime*: Yours truly's favourite character in the series. He's a really good fighter whose fighting technique is the "*gatotsu stance*". He has a rock-hard belief since pre-Meiji Era that he vows to practise until his death, which is, you guessed it, *AKU.SOKU.ZAN*. This just means to slash evil immediately (or something like that).

He is very fond of calling people *ahou* or idiot. He has another motto, which he says to every opponent he meets (I think) and that is, "*You can tame a dog with food, or tame a man with money; but you can never tame Miburi's Wolf!*". *Miburi's Wolf* refers to himself. He is frequently looking for a chance to battle the hero of the story, *Rurouni Kenshin*, and kill him, so that he can be the strongest, and also to enforce his belief.

*Saitou Hajime* and *Rurouni Kenshin* stand on two opposite ends. While *RK* abhors killing (I'm talking about *Kenshin* here, not the Battosai) and tries to save people using a reversed-edge sword, *Saitou* on the other hand wants to kill whomever he thinks is evil or he feels contradicts with his belief.

That's about it. I am sure that I have missed something in there about *Saitou* (or even written something that's not accurate). That's because I would prefer not to fill this story with too much *RK*. One chapter is just not enough to describe it, so let's just make do with this. I have already mentioned too much already. Please go to the search engines if you want to find more about *RK*.

P/S By the way, their songs are really superb.

As you roam about in the heavens, you suddenly come across something sorely out of place!

The Yisheigai Intro
Chapter 20
Chapter 22
The Yisheigai Gallery
The Storyteller's Tent
The Cursed Living Doll