You know the usual drill - email your suggestions for a title to : poseidon7801@yahoo.com.
Oh by the way, this is one of the longest chapters ever.Cheers!

Mikamiko fidgeted uneasily in the deep confines of her favourite armchair, her wide, brown eyes travelling ever so often to the door. To an onlooker, she seemed to be anxiously expecting someone to appear at the doorway any minute. She strained her ears to catch the conversation going on outside the room, but to no avail.

Damn it! Why did she have to feel so uneasy? All that he was doing was talking to an old friend. They weren't touching or anything! But she did have to admit, his old friend was really ravishing, with fiery red hair and eyes which matched her hair. Not to mention a really daring dress sense. Who else would wear a spagetti-strapped, navel-baring tank-top with a super micro-mini skirt in the middle of autumn? Insane, or really resistant of the cold, this girl must be. And they did look like such a compatible couple standing next to each other! Why, he was even laughing softly at whatever she was saying, and looking intently into her eyes. She could hear the ugly voice of Jealousy whispering secret words into her ear. Words like "How dare he stand so close to another girl? He could almost look down and see her cleavage if he wanted to! Ooh, and is that where I think his eyes are travelling to?"

Trying to drown out those horrible words, she turned up the volume of the Discman that she had been listening to. But those thoughts still stayed within her, screaming louder and louder at her with each passing second.

Meanwhile, the very ravishing friend of Mariteus' was quite aware of the raging emotions and thoughts that had been going through Mikamiko's mind. Who asked her to have inherited quite a bit of the mind-reading skills from her mother, Ulaine? In fact, she was going to make use of this skill of hers quite efficiently indeed. Through the corner of her eye, she could see that the girl had already thrown all caution into the wind and was boldly peeping at them at the doorway.

"Eva, is there something on your mind? You seem a little distracted. You have turned even paler compared to the last time I saw you, and you are already quite fair. Let me guess ..... thinking of someone special?" Mariteus teased in a manner unlike his normal self. He knew that he could bare his soul to this sister of his, for she was the only one who understood him the best. Even better than Claudine, in fact. One could say that Mikamiko's jealousy was not without reason.

Eva started for a moment , searching his face to read for any underlying meaning in his words. Finding none, she serenely smiled and shook her head. She gazed into his wonderful blue-green eyes meaningfully.

"You know, ko-ko, there is no one in this Universe that I love more than you." She softly confessed her emotions for him.

"And I love you the most among the others too, my dearest mui-mui." Being the truly slow self he was, Mariteus thought that his sister would be as delighted by this as he was by her words.

Eva perfectly understood the meaning behind these words, and was truly, deeply hurt by them. It was as if her heart had been stabbed a thousand times over; maybe it was even worse, but it was no use describing it. In an attempt to keep him from seeing her impending tears, she pulled him towards her and gave him a deep, hard kiss that never seemed to end for the peeping Mikamiko.

Mariteus was surprised at this sudden gesture, to say the least. But as usual, he thought that it was just a very passionate, if a little OTT expression of sibling affection that Eva had towards him.

"Now, Eva. I know that they do this often in the Western countries, but don't you think that we shouldn't follow them? We should retain our own traditional values, or we won't be unique, but just a mass-manufactured product of the 21st Century!" Mariteus then rubbed the top of her head to express his own affection for her.

Eva was even more struck than ever. Barely containing her tears, she requested Mariteus to do the same for her.

"Just for old time's sake, ko-ko. You won't deny that of me, will you?" She gazed into his beautiful face with pleading, shimmering eyes.

Mariteus heaved a soft sigh and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. She almost swooned at the touch of his lips against her skin, and would have almost embraced him there and then if not for an interruption from a certain girl watching at the doorway.

"M...Ming, who is this girl? Why are you kissing her?" A shaky voice stuttered from the doorway.

At her voice, Mariteus whirled around and saw that it was his beloved Mikamiko. Right then, he knew that she had misunderstood what was happening between him and Eva. She had always been prone to jealousy, even when she was Claudine in her previous life (just as he was). And now, with the addition of her deeper-than-sea inferiority complex, the effect was even worse. He knew that he had to explain, fast.

"Now, my dearest. It isn't what you think it is. This lady here is my half-sister. Which means she's you sister-in-law. In a way, at least."

"Ming, in all my living years, I have never heard of a lamer excuse. If she's your sister, why is it that I haven't heard about her in all the months we had been together? And she doesn't look one bit like you." She pouted. "In fact, I don't know anything about your past, or your family or friends, or why you have so much money when you don't even work at all! I don't know anything about you, period! When are you going to stop treating me like a stranger and start telling me things about yourself? Obviously, this 'sister' of yours knows you more than I do and communicate better with you!"

The usually quiet Mikamiko suddenly blurted out all the fears and doubts she had been hiding all the while. She did not usually say out her doubts, for she had thought it negligible in her relationship with him. She had thought that in due course, he would tell her more about himself. She had trusted him, with all her heart. Especially after that night when she was attacked by Yoichi, and Ming had saved and comforted her throughout the night. But the shock at seeing this was waaay too much for her!

"Mika, you mustn't think in that way! I didn't tell you all these as I didn't think you would be interested! And she doesn't look like me because she is only my half-sister!" Mariteus frantically tried to explain.

"I wouldn't be interested? How can you say that? Don't you know that I want to know every single detail about you? I even want to know how many cells you have in your body, if that's possible! And now you say this ...You have really done it this time, Ming. You claimed that you would never hurt me, but this hurts worse than anything in my entire life! All because of this... this slut over here!" Mikamiko launched an especially vicious attack at Eva.

"How can you say that? She's not a slut! No one calls my sister a slut, not even you!" Mariteus was rather enraged by Mikamiko's unreasonable attitude and had forgotten all about the promises and sweet nothings he had once-upon-a-time whispered into her ear.

"Yeah? Well, I'll be the first one then! Slut, slut, bitch! What are you going to do to me, huh? I will insult her all I like! If you want to hit me, do it! I don't care!" She screamed, her voice turning hoarse.

A loud, hard slap that could be heard echoing throughout the room landed on her left cheek. It was a truly brutal slap, for it left an angry, red impression of five fingers there. The skin inside her mouth had broken, and she could taste the blood from the cut.

A deadly silence followed then. They could even hear their nails growing. None of them uttered a word, but Mikamiko stared and stared at Mariteus until tears blurred her vision.

Mariteus stared at his hand, unable to believe that it had slapped the love of his life.

"Mika... I'm truly sorry! I didn't know what I was doing!" He tried to salvage the 'damage' he had caused.

"It's alright, Ming. You don't have to say sorry. I know you didn't mean it. I was too...unreasonable. I couldn't stop myself......I was so jealous of her! You look so compatible together that I...I couldn't help thinking how fat and ugly I am compared to her. But just as well...I'll just treat this as the e...end of our relationship..." She then gazed her unblinking, teary eyes upon his face for a long time. They seemed to be bidding a farewell to him. Her eyes and every word she said were tugging painfully at his heartstrings. He knew what he would be feeling if she were to leave him, once again. He would wallow forever in an empty shell, he just knew it.

He grabbed her soft, plump hand, refusing to let her go.

"Mika...please do not leave me! I can't stand the loneliness without you! If you leave me, I might not die, but my heart will! Give me another chance! I promise not to hurt you, ever again!"

"That's what everyone says, but in the end, they hurt me all the more badly...I can't stand it..." She turned her head away to hide her tears from him,"...not from you, Ming. Not from you!" She then turned and ran away, unable to bear the pain that was crushing her heart ever so painfully.

Knowing how futile it was to chase after her, Mariteus gave up and fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands.

"I can't believe it! How could I have committed that stupid mistake over and over again? I hurt my beloved once again! When will I ever learn? I had thought that dying once would be lesson enough, but apparently, I am the greatest fool of all time! Hahahahahaha!!!" He let out a loud, bitter laugh, which gradually turned into great, shuddering sobs that couldn't seem to stop.

Eva had been watching the real-life drama quietly, currently unnoticed by her grieving brother. A strange mixture of feelings was running through her. On the one hand, she was glad that her greatest rival in love had run away herself. Maybe she could comfort Mariteus and be by his side when he needed a shoulder to cry on. That is, when he has forgiven her for being the catalyst of the break-up. On the other...she knew that Mariteus would never recover from this blow. He would be just like a walking corpse, an empty shell where neither heart nor soul resides. Whatever she did or felt for him would go unnoticed. It would be as if she was transparent! She had gone through this one time, and she didn't want to go through it again! What was the use of having Mariteus all to herself if he wasn't even there?!!

Making the toughest decision ever in her life, she stepped forward and put her shaking hand on his shoulder.

"Ko-ko! Don't you think that you are wasting your time here? Shouldn't you be chasing after her? She's still alive you know, not like the last time. And this increases your chances million-fold! You shouldn't give up so easily!" Uttering these words of encouragement was like shooting herself in the heart, but she knew that she had to do it. It was just...so her......

"It's no use! I have trampled on her heart; she wouldn't let me in again! Not in a million years!" Mariteus shook his head, turning his tear-streaked face to look at her.

"Tell me, Eva! Why do I always do the commit the same mistakes, even if I know how serious the consequences are?"

"Mariteus, did I ever tell you that you can be so useless at times? Didn't you come all the way from Yisheigai to Earth just to chase after Claudine and be reunited with her? And just because of one leeettle rejection, you have decided to give up? Sometimes, a man's gotta be tough and assertive to win the girl's heart, didn't your Ma ever tell you that? You shouldn't be the spineless jellyfish that you are now!" Ignoring the bloody mess that her heart must be now, she kept encouraging her brother to go after his love.

"Hmmmm... You know, my Ma was dead when I was only five. So she couldn't tell me anything about winning a girl's heart. However, you might just be right, Eva. Maybe I AM too soft. I should've taken a more positive approach. Do you think it's too late now?" Cheered up by his sister's rousing words, Mariteus started to feel a glimmer of hope glowing in his heart.

"Ko-ko! Even her death wasn't too late for you! Whatever happened to your perseverance when you chased her from the very depths of the Underworld to here? Go, shoo, before I kick your ass out of here!" Saying which she slapped him hard on his butt.

"Oi, you're such an unfeminine Goddess! How can you slap a guy's butt! No wonder you're still unattached!" Saying which he started running off to chase Mikamiko, for Eva had raised her hand, as if preparing to hit him.

Eva stared after his running figure, her hand staying in mid-air for quite a while. The running figure soon became a little moving dot in the distance, leaving her staring off into space. She moved her eyes downward and gazed at her palm for a long time, at the place where she had slapped Mariteus' butt.

Forcing a smirk on her face, she jested,

"Now I wouldn't want to wash my hand for about a year! Wahahahahaha!!!!" She threw her head back and guffawed, her empty laughter echoing around the house.

A surge of bitterness engulfed her, and she could no longer contain the choking feeling inside. As if water bursting from a dam, her tears flowed long and hard with wild abandon. There was not a spot of her face that was not graced by the downpour.

Somewhere outside the house, another certain God scowled darkly, for his plans had been foiled yet again.

"Eva! I should have known that she would fail at last minute! Looks like it's up to me then." He frowned unpleasantly, his handsome face spoiled by the frown and the crease between his eyebrows. "Why do I have to do everything myself?" He grumbled as he followed the running figure as it chased after another running figure. Why doesn't he use his floating techniques to catch up with her anyway? Sometimes I wonder why Mother so favours a dumbass such as him!

He stopped his pursuing just as he was about to catch up with him. A firewall had formed in front of him just as he was about to swoop down and attack Mariteus with a lightning strike. He had been but one millimeter away from being burnt to a crisp.

"EVA!" he whirled around and roared, infuriated by his sister's interference.

"You really should let them be. We are now in the new millennium, and War isn't cool anymore, Arian!" Eva waved her hand, and the firewall she had created disappeared.

"It isn't enough for you to back out at last minute from your plans, you have to hinder mine as well, sis? What in the world were you thinking? Have you lost your mind? Now, let me through, or I will see to it personally that you are punished!" Arian threatened, flashing his lightning whip for the first time for all readers to see.

"You will not get in their way again! Those two love each other more than anything, don't you think that they're very pitiful to be forced apart time and time again? You have a wife who loves you too, why don't you go to her and make everyone happy?"

"My, my, my! When has my sister turned into a charitable body? You would give up your happiness so that they could be together? How noble of you! I think you are seriously infected with the 'Moron disease'! Would you like a taste of my whip to wake you up? I think you would need that very much!" Without warning, he lashed his weapon upon Eva, leaving a bloody slash on her white, creamy thigh. The contrast of the blood against her fair skin made it seem even redder (if that's even possible). The pain was excruciating, but she gritted her teeth as she would not give Arian the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

"That was just the prelimary rounds, without turning on the lightning factor! If you still want to be Little Miss Noble, I don't mind giving you another lashing!" Arian smirked and grinned evilly, sending multiple chills down Eva's spine.

"I...will..not...let...you...hurt...them...one...bit...!" She forced out these words through gritted teeth. She was in pain, but had never felt better about herself in her entire life protecting Mariteus like this. She knew then that even if her feelings for him could never be reciprocated, she could do her best to protect him in any way she could. And that was enough for her. (If she were a guy, Mikamiko (yours truly lah) would surely fall in love with her! *sob*)

"Oh yeah? Try this for starters!" Arian slashed the whip about in a series of strokes, chanting an ancient Yisheigian curse to summon all the available lightning upon the weapon. It started to crackle with the saturation of power and energy that had gathered there.

The sky turned dark ominously, warning all around of the nearness of the impending downpour while the East wind blew strongly, swaying even the oldest and thickest of trees in its course.

"Why are you so against them in the first place? It's not as if you are hindered by them in any way! Don't tell me...you are in love with Mikamiko?!!" Eva tried to bid for time by asking a stupid question.

"Hah! You must really be out of your mind! What would I see in such a whiny, ugly brat like her?" He said this while in his mind, he thought of another person.

"That is the truth, thaaat is the truth...HaHaHa, but even then..."

Then she paused. She paused long and hard. She stared at him. She stared at him until her eyes almost popped out of their sockets. She could not believe what she had just read from Arian's mind. Of course, he did not know that she could read his mind, or anyone else's for the matter. Somehow, this ability was kept secret from him and most of the other Deities. Which made it even worse, for he did not bother to mask his thoughts like he did around Skylar.

Arian took one look at her expression and felt a sense of forbidding creep up to him.

"Don't tell me...you have the same powers as Skylar?!!!"

The expression on her face gave away all the answers he needed.

"You...you are a cheat! How could you...? Now, you really have to DIE!" Horrified that his secret had already by found out by someone as obnoxious as Eva, he was all the more determined to kill her, if just to seal her mouth.

Eva recognised the determined and desperate look on his face. It could be likened to that of a caged wounded beast on the verge of springing an attack to break free from his confines. She floated away as fast as she could (which to the human eye was like a blink of the eye), in a futile attempt to escape from Arian's wrath.

The dark clouds finally burst, unable to contain their burden any longer. A heavy downpour ensued. Lightning flashed in the distance, and thunder followed, striking fear in the hearts of the weak-willed.

The deafening thunder masked any sound that Arian's whip made as he meted out the harshest punishment there ever was in Yisheigian history.

In the distance, a figure descended from the sky in a flaming ball towards the ground, creating an inextinguishable fire when it fell into the forests.

Ulaine was rubbing her temples with medicated oil when one of her favorite bangles cracked.

"Oh dear! Eva had given me that bangle! I wonder why it cracked! Must have been the constant wear and tear!" As she said that, a curious clenching of her heart caused her to gasp so hard that she had to breathe in deeply to calm the frantic beating.

Mariteus had just caught up with Mikamiko and finally convinced her to give him another chance. They were hiding from the rain in a deserted bus-stop when out of nowhere, a chill suddenly ran down his spine. His skin was covered from head to toe in goose bumps, and a dreaded feeling came over him. His face turned pale, breaking out in cold sweat.

A worried Mikamiko saw his pale face and enquired if anything was wrong.

"Nothing, just a bad premonition." He smiled, albeit a bit queerly.

However, tears started running down both their faces for no apparent reason......

Author's notes: What had happened? I'm sure you clever readers have guessed by now. If not, just read on. By the way, I haven't yet received one single suggestion for the title of these chapters. Please, please send me an email with suggestions, if not these would be titleless. *sob* You don't want these stories to become nameless, do you? That's somewhat like Motherless, or even worse! Any comments and criticisms are welcome too.

For your enhanced understanding:

ko-ko is an extremely intimate expression for big brother. Its origins come from Chinese. (The original spelling was Kor-kor)

mui-mui is an extremely intimate expression for younger sister. Its origins come from Chinese too. (Not exactly Chinese, but a kind of dialect. The spelling is as you see it.)

Mika is Mariteus' nickname for Mikamiko, cos Mikamiko is simply too long for him to say. I mean, just look at the Maths. He can shout Mika two times in the same time he shouts Mikamiko once.

By the way, even though Eva has mind-reading abilities, she doesn't use them too often because she thinks it is an invasion of privacy (unless when it comes to guys like Arian).

If there are any more terms you do not understand, please email me so that I can explain them to you personally or in public.

The Rest of the Story......

The Introduction
Chapter 1 - The Beginning
Chapter 2 - The Awakening
Chapter 3 - Mikamiko = Claudine?!!
Chapter 4 - Journey to the Centre of the Jungle
Chapter 5 - The Second Condition is......
Chapter 6 - Skylar
Chapter 7 - Old Flame Attack!!
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
The Yisheigai Gallery