Yu-Gi-Oh: Tale of the Dark One

By Hikari of Dark Rose

Chapter 1

An Unexpected Discovery

It was a hot summer day in Domino, Japan. Yugi Moto and his friends were assisting his grandfather by cleaning the shop while Grandpa Moto was out. Tea cleaned the glass casing, as Yugi organized cards inside, Joey and Tristan were sweeping the floor and occasionally having brief fights with their broom handles.

"So Yugi… are you sure your Grandpa didn't say where he was going?" Tea looked at her shorter friend with a confused glance. The group had been planning on a picnic at the beach but the sudden disappearance of Mr. Moto had stopped that plan in its tracks. Just then a loud clacking noise drew her attention and the brunette girl looked at her other friends with a frustrated sigh. "Come on guys, not in the shop! Can't you work together just once?" Joey and Tristan parted and both looked sheepish at being caught. Any further explanation however was cut off by the sound of the front door opening.

"Yugi, I'm back" Called out Grandpa as he entered the shop, followed by 4 guests. "And I've brought some people for you to meet. Though I'm sure you already know Professor Hawkins and Rebecca." The Professor and his granddaughter stepped into shop and as soon as the girl had a clear path to Yugi she launched forward, scrabbling over the counter to tackle the small boy.

"Oh Yugi, It's been too long since my last visit, you need to write to me more!" Yugi opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the blonde in his arms. "But that doesn't matter since Molly and I will be staying here!" Rebecca continued to cuddle Yugi to death as her chatter sped up into an unintelligent able blur. Leaving Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Yugi to all look at each other in confusion

"Rebecca, Please!" they heard the familiar voice of Professor Hawkins scold the little girl. "You're really too old for such antics!" Rebecca had the same look on her face that Tristan and Joey had had when caught broom dueling and she slowly climbed off Yugi and walked back to where her Grandfather stood as Solomon Moto Cleared his throat.

"As I was about to say… This is my friend and former colleague Mary Bowen and her granddaughter, Molly " Grandpa stepped aside and revealed the other two visitors. One was a tall woman with chestnut and white hair pulled into a tight bun and blue eyes that seemed to deepen in color as you looked at them. The other was a girl about Yugi's age who stood a few inches shorter than Tea, she had her grandmother's blue eyes but her hair was long and a much darker brown.

"Molly and Rebecca will be staying with us while Professors Bowen and Hawkins Return to Egypt" Grandpa continued to explain as he began inspecting the job the kids had done taking care of the shop in his absence. "Arthur and Mary have an interesting discovery out there"

"Yes, it seems a site that no one really ever paid attention to has turned into something quite extraordinary." Professor Hawkins stepped forward and spread a map out upon one of the counters. It showed what appeared to be the foundation for a small fort and several small houses.

"For a long time it was believed that this was just an isolated outpost, nothing more than a back gate to the kingdom. However Professor Bowen has found ancient Greek documents that seemed to list it as far more." Professor Hawkins drew a large circle around the area "And now thanks to aerial photography, we now see the town was at some point much larger."

"Wow" said Yugi as he and his friends in unison as they leaned over the map as Professor Hawkins drew a circle around the new estimated boundaries of the dig site then noticed the approximate date given for the settlement was disturbingly close to the one for the millennium puzzle. "Do you think this will have anything to do with the millennium items?"

"Maybe… a lot of the artifacts we have already found date up to about that time, but nothing past that point. The city may have been in decline already, with the Shadow Wars being the final straw." Explained the Professor "Unfortunately we have no idea what the condition of the site will be and that means…"

"What it means is Grandpa doesn't trust me!" Rebecca interrupted loudly tears brimmed in her eyes as the 12 year old clung to Yugi once again and began to sob heavily into his shoulder. "It's unfair Yugi, Just because last time I went on a dig I fell into an unmarked tomb…" the rest was lost in the little girl's sobbing

"Now, there will be none of that young lady!" Professor Bowen spoke up harshly, tapping her walking stick on the floor "If you want us to treat you as an adult you had best start acting like one. You won't be joining us this season due to your carelessness, and keep acting this way and you will be barred from the next as well!"

"You're just saying that!" Rebecca retorted as she whirled back around to face the elder woman "Molly has been behaving up to your standards and she isn't going either!" The girl in question looked up nervously when her name was mentioned but then back at her hands again. She didn't wish to be part of the argument and her opinion would make little difference either way. So she just kept herself busy by sewing a picture of a pink tiger, only the tiger itself was done so far but on a close inspection one would see a background of a ruined Egyptian palace.

"It's different with Molly, and I am not going into it with you Miss Hawkins" With a sigh Professor Bowen turned to Solomon Moto "Truly I am sorry for this, but we have to go now." With that the tall woman grabbed Professor Hawkins' arm and marched him out so that he didn't spend an hour trying to calm Rebecca down.

The Kame game shop was a different place at 4 in the morning. The world around it had yet to awake and silence permeated into every surface, the sounds, bustle, and activities of the day belonged to Yugi. The quiet, the peace, the solitude of the night belonged to Yami.

Things weren't so bad for the puzzle spirit. He had long ago learned to turn the TV on and off, if the long ago past began to creep against his consciousness. That was what he was about to do now, his host in the grip of a fitful sleep. It was by pure luck that Yami found a documentary on ancient Egypt, soon some of the darkness was chased away by a view of desert sands and old music with songs only half remembered. Closing his eyes the Pharaoh settled on the couch which was populated by a pile of blankets someone had left behind. Suddenly Yami's eyes popped open as the blanket under him shifted and he felt a thrumming pulse under his hand. Slowly the spirit looked down… his hand rested on the center of a young woman's chest and it was her heart he felt.

Upstairs a strong rush of emotion thrust Yugi awake from the dream which had held him until now. Alone he had walked, seeking someone dear to him. He carried on through desert and city, walking and searching but he knew that he never drew any closer, she was gone from him forever but he vowed to keep looking.

"Yami?" the 17 year old whispered to the spirit which suddenly appeared at his side, still lost in the fading dream for a few moments. It took the boy that long to notice the flustered look on his ancient friend's face. "Is something wrong?"

"Yugi… there is a girl… on the couch…"Yami muttered slowly, not quite making eye contact with his light half. Yugi blinked at the embarrassed way his other spirit had told him this fact.

"Uh… Does she have brown hair? About our age?" Yami nodded in response, it was dark but Yugi would almost swear the spirit was blushing. "Oh that's Molly. She is staying with us for the summer and was probably kicked out of the guest room by Rebecca"

"Re…Rebecca? Here?" the Pharaoh wasn't overly thrilled to hear about their blonde guest. The last time he had seen her she had been a child, and an annoying one at that.

"Yes both of them will be staying here while their grandparents are off in Egypt… Come on, by now she is probably awake and it would be a shame for you to miss your show." Yugi stood up and put a robe on over his pajamas.

Downstairs they found Molly had indeed woken up and was staring stupefied at the TV. The confused brunette seemed to be looking all over the couch for the remote control so she could explain away the device magically turning itself on.

"Hey sorry about that," Yugi greeted her as both he and Yami descended the stairs earning a startled eep from Molly who hastily hurried to wrap the blanket tighter around herself, "I have the TV set on a timer so I could watch this show… want some tea?"

"Yes, please… if it isn't too much trouble." Molly curled up so she would not take up the whole couch. It struck her as really odd that someone would go out of their way for her, more used to Rebecca's constant demands, and emotional outbursts.

As it turned out, Molly was a much better conversation partner than Yugi gave her credit for. During commercial breaks the two had hit it off without the overbearing Rebecca dominating the conversation. Molly had a good grasp on hieroglyphics and the both had a laugh over a tablet on the screen which spoke about the size of a prince's harem, rather than his coronation which the host indicated. At some point Molly had recovered her sewing hoop from a box on the floor and began working at her picture again. As Yugi watched, certain bits of project shimmered in the flickering light of the television giving the whole thing a magical glisten.

"You know… that looks like an Amazoness Tiger," He remarked. Looking up and seeing confusion on the girl's face he clarified, "It's a duel monster, do you play?"

"Well, sort of. Rebecca taught me how to play … here." Molly pulled a deck out of her sewing box, handing it to Yugi. Soon it became apparent to Yugi however, that this was not a deck, but a bunch of random cards fished out of Rebecca's spare collection. No one could win with this and if he was right, having an easy to beat had been Rebecca's intention from the start.

"Is this is it…?" Yugi asked before making eye contact with the brown haired girl, Maybe this was a side deck or she had picked up the wrong pile out of her sewing box. Molly nodded Yugi found he couldn't tell her what their friend had done

"It's ok for a beginner, but why don't I help you rebuild this in the morning" He offered, it would take a lot of work but being the king of games had bonuses. One of which was an expansive collection of spare cards. Molly blushed, again unused to the fact of someone going out of their way for her, but she smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Yugi"

The next morning Grandpa Moto found the pair in the shop with cards spread out all over the floor. Yugi found Molly had a good understanding of timing, how and when to use traps. He coupled her with a fast warrior deck, taking a cue from her stitching and made it Amazon themed. The deck was finished just as Joey and Tristan came into the shop, both wearing swim wear and whooping excitedly.

"Hey Yuge! Come on, Today we're going to the beach." Joey waved his towel above his head.

"Sorry guys, I can't. I have to help Grandpa in the shop," Yugi looked from his friends to Molly, she needed to practice and it would help him to watch where she made her mistakes, "But… while you're here, can you maybe practice with Molly?"

"Yeah, sure. Count me in." Joey said eyeballing the shy girl kneeling on the floor in her long yellow and white dress. She looked up and smiled innocently, her white hair bow flopping a little as head tilted slightly. She didn't look like too big a threat; Joey figured he could show the girl a little kindness.

An hour later, when Tea arrived to meet the boys, he had reconsidered that opinion. Molly and Joey had dueled 5 times and Joey had had to fight for both victories he had claimed. Yugi was stunned, Molly had gone from novice to a semi skilled player in a matter of hours, more than that her frequent losses at the hands of Rebecca seemed to have taught her a sense of humility or, he wondered, looking down at the girl, did she have that from the start?

As Tea, Joey, and Tristan left, Yugi went back into the shop to find Rebecca had come in and was telling Molly not to bother with the new deck, it didn't suit her play style at all. Yugi was about to rush to the defense of molly when the brunette did so on her own, thanking Rebecca for her opinion and all the previous 'training' she had provided, but that she liked this deck, it was actually playable and would be staying. Though all this was said in such a polite manner even Rebecca couldn't find something to get angry about.

Working in the shop after that was an interesting affair to say the least. Rebecca who was unhappy at the loss of her minion tried to make trouble on several occasions. It became so bad at one point that Solomon sent Molly out on errands just to relieve tension. However between surges of Hurricane Hawkins, Molly and Yugi found a camaraderie, which was quickly deepening into a solid friendship.

"Yugi," Grandpa Moto said as he and his grandson closed the shop for the day, "Why don't you take Rebecca out to the museum or something tomorrow? Molly and I can manage for one day, and it might help to get Rebecca out and about." Yugi eyed his grandfather oddly he seriously doubted all Rebecca's problems could be fixed by a day tour of the Domino museum but he could give it a try… anything had to be better than today.

"All right Grandpa, but you will call me if anything goes wrong, right?"

"Of course!" Replied the old man, patting his grandson on the back. "Now come on, Molly is making dinner, and we don't want to miss it" They went inside and Yugi found that, yes, Molly had made dinner for everyone. She wasn't a great cook, but to Yugi and Solomon who had a bad habit of consisting mostly take-out food, roast chicken and a good fresh salad seemed like a blessing. There was even enough good will leftover from dinner for the four of them to have a game of scrabble, Grandpa earning an untold number of points by passing off made up words as being from one foreign language or another. It surprised everyone though that the one who caught him out was actually quiet Molly instead of the more vocal Rebecca. Still the light of the good feeling spread over the participants casting a warm golden glow on the memories.

As Yugi slept that night however, the warmth and laughter of the kitchen table seemed like a far of beacon in a lonely sea. It was dark and ancient city that spread out before him, he knew the streets, the hiding places, yet Yugi felt a dark presence around every corner. He was stalking something… or was it Stalking him? Faster and faster he ran, trying desperately to catch whatever it was or more than his own life would be at stake. Then there was a sharp impact and the world twisted, there was an unworldly growl, a woman crying out that he wanted to protect, a sharp pain as fangs and claws dug into his flesh, fear settling deep into his bones.

'What?' Yugi wondered as the pain deepened 'isn't this a dream?' then Yugi felt the world shift again as for a moment he and the person he was dreaming he was became separate entities then merged together again with the force of a tidal wave.

Slowly he opened his eyes… was he Yugi? Someone else... did it matter? The answer to the last question was no. Whoever he was though, he didn't want to be them right now as he looked around a room that seemed to be half a wizard's laboratory and half a woman's bedroom, his head hurt… his whole body hurt. Shadows in the room moved as another occupant walked around and Yugi's sight a blurred as one leaned over before a soothing voice spoke in Egyptian.

"You know… you are very lucky I happened to be there when it attacked" Yugi blinked several times, trying to see the owner of the voice clearly, his hand lifting reaching for the shape but after a minute he felt too weak and closed his eyes again with a muffled noise that was half a plea and half a sob. He was afraid…he didn't know why… but he was.

"Shhhh, Shhhhh" the voice quieted again and a warm damp cloth smelling strongly of herbs and spices was placed on his forehead while he was gathered in the woman's arms "Everything's all right. Shhhhh, you'll be all right. The poison just has to work itself out"

Against the voice that sounded both completely strange and heart-breakingly familiar Yugi couldn't hold out and his consciousness drifted to black before he woke one more time staring into the worried face of Yami. Rising to his feet the young man walked over to the window, pressing his face to the glass as he stared out at pre-dawn Domino muttering softly to both himself and his ancient guardian "Just… it was just a bad dream"