*Chris POV*
Joey Wheeler and I were playing the popular card game, duel monsters, while waiting for class to start. Joey was new to the game of duel monsters while I was practically an expert at it.
"And that leaves you with zero life points," I said triumphantly to Joey.
"What?" he exclaimed in disbelief.
"Wow Joey, you really suck at this game, don't you." Tristan mocked.
"Hey, speak for yourself you nimrod." Joey said back as I giggled.
"Don't worry about it Joey, I'm sure you'll get better at it eventually." Yugi said trying to encourage his friend. "Besides, Chris has always been really good at strategy games, so it's not like anyone has a chance against her anyway."
"It's true," Téa said. "I've tried to beat her at duel monsters before and can't figure out how she does it."
"There's nothing to figure out," I said honestly with a laugh. "I honestly just play the game as best I can, that's all there is to it."
"You mean you don't have a strategy?" Joey asked shocked.
"I wouldn't say that Joey," Yugi said. "Chris stays up some nights and figures out new combinations and strategies to use."
"Yugi," I exclaimed, my face turning slightly red. "You don't have to tell everybody!"
After school everyone came over to the game shop that Grandpa Mouto owned. I went upstairs to put my bag away when I noticed something on my desk. The keepsake box grandpa had given me seemed to be glowing from the inside. I walked over to it and opened it up. The locket inside was glowing, but when the box opened, the glowing subsided.
"That's weird…" I said picking it up and looking at it. "It's never done anything like that before."
"Chris, are you coming back down here?" Tristan called up the stairs.
"Oh, yea, I'll be right there!" I called back over my shoulder. I put the locket on and tucked it underneath my shirt. "I wonder if it'll glow like that again."
I soon rejoined my friends just as Seto Kaiba walked into the game shop. He saw the card grandpa was showing to the others and he ran to the counter, his eyes wide. "I can't believe it! The blue eyes white dragon in a dump like this!" he said shocked.
Grandpa put the card away and Kaiba seemed to get irritated. "Look here old man, I'll trade you all of these for that one card." He opened his briefcase and showed it to him. It was full of duel monsters cards.
"Nice, but no thanks," Grandpa replied.
"Then I'll buy it from you, name your price." Kaiba said determined. "I can pay any price."
Why does he want that card so badly? I wondered. Sure it's a rare card and all, but why is he so obsessed with it?
"I'm sure you could, but you see, this card means more to me than you'll ever know." Grandpa explained. "A dear friend gave me this card and I treasure it as I do that friend."
"Fine, I've heard enough of this nonsense you senile old fool." Kaiba said storming out of the game shop.
I got the eerie feeling that Kaiba wasn't going to give up so easily on getting his hands on that card. After a few minutes, I suddenly began to feel dizzy.
"Hey Chris, are you feeling okay?" Téa asked me worried. "You don't look too good."
"I'm fine, just feeling a little dizzy is all." I said reassuringly. I staggered to the stairs and grabbed onto the rail when I fell to my knees and everything went black.
*Two Days Later*
Yugi had explained to me that I had passed out and had been asleep for two days. He also told me about the situation between Grandpa and Kaiba.
"Where do you think you're going?" Grandpa asked as I started to put my shoes on.
"I'm going to school, of course." I replied.
"Chris, you should try to rest today, what if you pass out again?" Yugi said walking over to me. I saw the millennium puzzle hanging from his neck and I felt entranced by it. "Hello? Earth to Chris!"
I snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh, right, well if I don't go to school I'll fall behind everyone else and…"
"Téa and I will take good notes for you, so just go lay down, alright?" Yugi pleaded.
I sighed. My brother sure knew how to use those big eyes of his, even if it was subconsciously. "Fine, I'll stay home today and rest."
He left for school and I went into the living room while Grandpa went into the shop. I watched a bit of TV before feeling tired. I went back upstairs and collapsed on my bed before falling asleep.
*Yugi POV*
When I got home, Grandpa told me that Chris was asleep in her room. My friends came over and we put the duel monster regional championship on TV.
"Hey, how's Chris doing?" Téa asked.
"She's still pretty out of it." I replied. "I hope she hasn't gotten sick."
"Yugi, this package came for you today." Grandpa said handing me a package.
"It's from Industrial Illusions." I said opening it up. Inside there was a videotape, some kind of glove and two small gold stars. "I wonder what this stuff is for."
"Pop in the videotape and let's see what's on it." Joey suggested.
"Alright," I said putting the tape into the VCR.
Maximillion Pegasus appeared on the TV screen.
"Greetings little Yugi I am Maximillion Pegasus." He said.
"The well-known Pegasus sends greetings to my Yugi?" Grandpa thought aloud.
"I have heard some terribly interesting things about you Yugi." Pegasus said. "I've decided to investigate your dueling skills personally."
"Huh?" I was beginning to get confused. What was Pegasus talking about?
I felt the room change and I looked around to see that I had ended up in some kind of other world with Pegasus right in front of me.
"Before we begin, I'd like to inform you that we will be playing for very high stakes in this game, little Yugi." Pegasus said. He lifted up his hand and my eyes widened as I saw that he was holding Chris' favorite hair ribbon. "That's right Yugi boy, I have taken your sister."
*Chris POV*
I woke up and realized that I was in some kind of dungeon. It was dark and musty. I heard footsteps approaching and I was shocked to see Maximillion Pegasus standing in front of me. One of his guards opened the cell door and threw a young boy into the cell beside me.
"I thought you might want some company… Ms. Mouto." Pegasus said with a smirk.
"What do you want from me?" I asked. I saw a light flash from behind Pegasus' hair and my locket began to glow from underneath my shirt. I pulled it out and stared at it. "It's doing it again…"
Pegasus walked toward me with a smile on his face. "That, Ms. Mouto, is what I want from you." He said. "Now hand it over like a good little girl."
I clutched onto the locket. "You can't have it!" I said although I was scared at what he would do if I didn't give it to him.
"Now that's not smart, Ms. Mouto… you're stuck in a cell inside my castle on my private island… what could you possibly do to stop me or my men from getting it from you?"
My hand began to tremble. "I… I…" I knew that he was right. There wasn't anything I could do, but I also knew that I couldn't just give him to locket that my grandpa had given to me. Tears formed in my eyes. "Please… please don't take it…"
*Mokuba POV*
I saw a flash of light from behind Pegasus' hair and the girl's body fell over onto the floor. Pegasus bent down and ripped the locket off of her neck. "Now she can't come back… unless she is still alive…" he said as he walked out of the cell and had his guard lock it again.
"What did you do to her?" I asked frightened.
"Oh don't worry… she's perfectly safe..." he held up a card that had a picture of the girl on it. "…in here…"
He laughed and walked off, leaving me alone with the girl's soulless body. I hugged my knees and started to cry softly to myself. After a few minutes, I heard a soft sound and looked over at the girl and saw that her eyes were empty but her lips were moving. She was singing an old nursery rhyme. It was barely audible, but her voice was somewhat calming to me. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
*Chris POV*
I held onto my knees, singing the nursery rhyme I had learned in grade school, tears rolling down my cheeks. I'm so scared… someone… save me…
"It's alright… you don't have to be afraid…"
I looked up at the sound of the gentle voice. Standing in front of me was a girl who looked like me, except she was wearing an Egyptian styled dress. She smiled at me.
"Who… are you?" I asked.
"A friend," she replied, her voice kind and gentle. "I must be going now, but we shall meet again…" she began to fade into the darkness.
"Wait—" I called out to her. "At least tell me your name!" but she had already gone.
*Tristan POV*
I was looking through Pegasus' castle to try and find Mokuba and Chris while Yugi dueled with Pegasus. I had gotten into the lower levels of the castle and ran across a goon who seemed to be guarding a dungeon cell.
The guard sighed. "What's the point of me sitting here anyway? It's not like the brat can do anything without her soul…"
He must be talking about Chris! I quickly knocked out the guard and went over to cell and saw Chris leaning against the wall, her eyes open but lacking emotion. I took the keys I had taken from the guard and opened the cell door. I lifted her onto my back and started to make my way back to the others.
As I ran through the hallways I realized that Chris was singing an old nursery rhyme. Her voice was so quiet that I could barely hear her, but I took it as a sign that she was alright. I quickly made my way back to the others.
*Yugi POV*
As we looked for Pegasus, Tristan stopped.
"What is it Tristan?" I asked.
"It's Chris… I think she's coming to." Tristan replied.
We all rushed over to him and saw that Chris was waking up. She opened her eyes and looked up.
"Huh… what happened…?" she asked as she got off Tristan's back.
"Chris… you're alright…" I sighed in relief. I saw that her eyes were filling with tears and she began to cry. "Chris, what's wrong?"
"I was… I was scared…" she cried. "I was so scared Yugi…"
I smiled and wiped away her tears. "It's alright Chris, you're safe now. You're gonna be alright now."