Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
Her eyes close against her will, dark mascara-covered lashes sweeping vividly along the bags under her eyes. She used to be famous for wearing purple; it's ironic that even when she's tried to put it all behind her, reminders of her duelling days still creep into her life uninvited. She is so, so tired; so tired, she can only half-remember exactly why she hasn't been sleeping because the bed is so, so comfortable. She is grappling for the reason that is just out of reach, but it's slippery and does she want to ruin the fuzzy feeling anyway? Then her brain slides down into half-consciousness, as if down a slope, and she can't even reach for the reason anymore. There is golden light, twinkling everywhere, wafting the elusive information towards her. The light is slightly disturbing for some reason – there's some kind of unspoken smugness about it, and it prickles on her skin. She's forgotten about the reason and now she knows instinctively she needs to run; but oddly, she's paralysed.
Then she notices the golden cuffs, how her spine is arched painfully and how her wrists and ankles burn and suddenly she knows why sleep is so terrible, and she tries to wrench herself free but it's too late. She flops suddenly and hits glass. Her legs are bent and that strange prickling is getting sharper and more frequent. She knows what the prickling is now, as well. As if frustrated that she'd foiled it again, the beautiful golden sand starts to fall faster and faster until torrents of it are flowing down her body, leaving tiny cuts and getting into her mouth. She screams and bangs on the glass. 'Help! Help! Someone!' She's frantic, struggling like a trapped cat, and she screams again when the manic laughter comes. 'Don't bother to struggle, my dear. This is the shadow realm. No-one's coming for you now...' 'It's not the shadow realm, it's not, it's a dream, it's just a dream...' The sand is getting higher and higher, around her waist now, and it's getting harder to move. The laughing has started again, and she begins to cry, choking sobs that make her body convulse.
The golden light is dissolving into a truly disturbing shade of purple which swirls menacingly to reveal his figure. She shrinks back against the glass, frozen in horror. A word drops from her lips in no more than a broken murmur. 'Joey...' He hears her nonetheless and advances. He leans close so she can see his manic eyes, his deranged smile. His tone is indulgent. 'He's not coming.' His words send her into an even worse frenzy; her answer comes in the form of a desperate, hoarse scream. 'JOEY!' She can't remember what the ambiguous word even means, but she remembers abstract emotions of happiness and more importantly, acid green light, even more menacing than its golden relative. 'JOEY! HELP ME! PLEASE!' She finally hears something comforting, if only in that it is different to his voice or the sound of her own screams. 'Hey, Mai. That was one of the greatest duels I ever fought. Thank you.' She's heard it many times before and she dreads what's coming next. 'No... Joey... I'm sorry...' 'You took my soul, Mai. This is the price.' And then the laughing starts up again and she jolts wildly –
...up in bed, whimpering and shaking. She clings to the bedpost, if only for something solid to hold, to reassure her that the world is more than fear and loneliness. And so she wipes the sweaty strands of hair off her face and tries to control her breathing and regrets the day she refused to listen to Yugi Mutou.
I hope it was okay; this is my first fanfic so feedback would be lovely!
