Up Through The Ashes
By SMYGO4EVA
Colors were just there to stand out in the crowd, and that was it.
They didn't mean anything to her, not to Mai, anyway.
Purple. Gold. White. Blue.
Red. Black.
Fire shaded everything, encompassing everything, until it was burnt and bloody. From the golden creature, there were only ashes and flames.
Mai couldn't see them anyway, not even in the shadows, nor did she care. No matter how people like Joey much grumbled about their surroundings, or Téa and Yugi always tensed when the heliotrope shadows surrounded an arena on the long-gone dueling tournaments.
Mai really didn't get the big deal, or why everyone seemed to care so much, why it even mattered.
Fire was fire, as the dark was just what it was called, from the hatred of one named Malik Ishtar, from the darker half that entrapped her.
Purple, black, red and gold never mattered anymore.
They used to, in the eternal dusk, but that dark light of his hatred was snuffed out.
Malik, the true Malik, burned bright and warm, especially after his darker half was vanquished, and the shadows were comforting once again.
Both had emerged up through the ashes of the shadows, to be painted from their suffering no more.