Title: The Shadow Bearers
Summary: In Ancient Egypt, at the same time as the creation of the Millennium Items, another ancient magic came into being. They were called the Shadow Bearers and they existed for the sole purpose of destroying the Millennium Items and all the magic they held. In present day Japan, Learra meets Yugi again after spending nine years in Egypt. She has a mission to carry out now, but she soon realizes that the beliefs she has held for the past nine years may all have been a lie. Now she has to decide who's side she'll be on in the inevitable war to come.
A/N: So I've actually had this idea floating around my head for at least two years now but only now have I decided to try writing it. And a special shout out thanks to Ryn Gray for helping me figure this out.
Chapter One
His feet pounded against the sand as he ran across the desert, every now and then coming across low shrubs and grasses. Something demonic was chasing him through the dunes. It was after the precious artifact that he clutched possessively to his chest. He wouldn't let that thing have it though. It was his and his alone. He had worked hard to obtain it and now he would use its power. This creature from the underworld would not get in his way!
Not watching where he was going, his foot sank into the sand and he pitched forwards, tumbling to the ground. As he fell, he lost his grip on the artifact and it landed a small distance away. Scrambling forwards, he snatched it up again, panting from the exertion of running and the fear that kept him going.
Now that he was no longer on the move he realized he could no longer hear the creature chasing after him. He stood up slowly and looked around. There was no sign of his demonic pursuer. He sighed and began to relax. Hopefully it had given up.
Looking down he gazed obsessively at the item he was finally able to obtain from the crypt. It was rumoured to be an item of ancient power; power enough to rival that of the Millennium Items. Right now, he could feel no inkling of its power but if its demon guardian was any clue, the rumours were right.
Suddenly a shadow fell over him. He went cold with fear and his heart seemed to stop. He turned around to face the terror that had stalked him from the ancient temple where the artifact had lain hidden. The smell of death and blood descended on demonic wings as silver fangs of darkness approached to snatch up their prey and retrieve the item it was sworn to protect.
He screamed as death closed in around him.
**********
In the city of Domino, Japan, the sun beat down on the sidewalk and streets to the point where the heat was uncomfortable for most pedestrians. One girl, however, looked up to the sun with a smile on her face. The dark clothes she wore didn't seem to bother her; she seemed at home in this weather. The heat and the bright orb of fire in the sky reminded her of Egypt.
She had been born here in Japan but had spent the better part of the last nine years in Egypt with her father. It had been fun, but she had decided it was time to return home. Besides, there was someone she wanted to see.
Having not been back since she was seven years old, she was finding it a little difficult to navigate the city; it had grown a lot in the time she had been gone. Despite that, she didn't think it would be too hard to find her destination. It had almost been like her home away from home.
As she wandered through the streets she stopped every now and then at a few stores. She bought one of those magazines that teenage girls liked to read, trying to see if anything new was going on, but decided it was all trash and tossed it. She bought some new makeup, a CD she hadn't known was out yet and, of course, some ice cream. Couldn't go anywhere without ice cream.
For a while she just walked through the streets, taking in the sights and letting her feet remember the paths she had travelled as a child. It was coming back to her now. Her favorite ice cream parlour had been just around that corner, but it had closed down the year before she left. She had always gone to the restaurant she had just passed with her family on Wednesday nights, since it was the one day both her parents had off work.
Taking a left she found herself by the park, and she remembered this park very well. It had been here that she and he best friend had come for the game days they held on the first Saturday of every month. Now if she could just find said friend, she would be set. Having found the park though, she knew it wasn't far.
One block further along she finally found the building she was looking for. Grinning, she ran to the building and flung open the door. Seeing the old man standing behind the counter, her grin broadened. "Hey Gramps!"
**********
"Why is it so fricken hot out!?" Jonouchi complained loudly.
"It's a heat wave, Jonouchi," Anzu replied with a sigh. "It's gonna be hot out for a while. Get used to it."
"Well I don't wanna get used to it," he pouted.
Honda sighed. His blonde friend was acting like such a baby. "Grow up Jonouchi," he said. "Complaining isn't going to change anything."
"What was that?" Jonouchi spat, turning on Honda.
"Hey guys, stop fighting," Yugi intervened. The group of four friends were walking down the street towards the Kame Game Shop. "It's just the heat that's making you act like this."
Anzu waved a hand in front of her face, trying to fan herself. "How come this heat isn't getting to you Yugi?" she asked, though it was more like she was accusing him.
He shrugged before responding. "I've never been bothered by the heat." He left it at that and they continued to walk to the game shop.
Jonouchi groaned loudly and crossed his arms over his chest. "I can't wait to get to get a nice cold soda," he grumbled. Finally the Kame Game Shop came into view and Jonouchi jumped up in giddy relief. "Yahoo! I'm raiding the fridge Yugi!" he called as he charged forwards.
"H-hey, Jonouchi, wait up!" Yugi ran after his friend and the other two followed right on his heels. Jonouchi burst through the door before the others could reach him but stopped and turned to Yugi.
"Uh, Yugi? Isn't your Gramps usually here?" he asked
Yugi entered the shop and looked around. Jonouchi was right, his grandpa hardly ever left the shop at this time of day. Yugi doubled checked the door but the sign that hung in the window still declared the store open. Shrugging it off, he continued towards the back of the store. "He must be in the kitchen."
Seeing how there was no one out front Yugi changed the sign to 'closed' before entering the rest of his house. As he approached the kitchen he could hear his grandfathers voice. He appeared to be talking to someone, but Yugi had no idea who it was. "Grandpa, I'm ho--"
"YUGI!" He was cut off as the girl who had been sitting opposite his grandpa at the table jumped up and tackled him in a flying hug. "Oh my god I haven't seen you in nine years! You haven't changed a bit. At first I was worried that you may have moved and I would never be able to find you." The whole while she was talking Yugi was struggling in her grasp. This girl was so familiar but he couldn't quite place her. She said that she hadn't seen him in nine years. Still fighting her crushing grip he desperately tried to place her. If he could just get a good look at her face, but she didn't seem to want to let go of him.
"Hey, Yugi. Who is this chick?" Jonouchi finally asked. He, along with Honda and Anzu, had been watching the spectacle in confusion. Neither of them had the faintest idea who this girl was.
Finally releasing her hold on Yugi the girl stepped back and looked at the group still standing in the door. Yugi, now able to see her face, finally recognized her. She had changed a lot over the last nine years. Her skin was now darker from her time spent in Egypt and she had grown quite a lot, not to mention her fashion taste had become very unique. Her hair, which had been chestnut brown the last time he had seen her was now slightly lighter and streaked through with a deep violet and tipped black. Even through all this, he recognized her immediately. "Learra!"
Smiling brightly, Learra crossed her arms across her chest. "Good. I was beginning to think you had forgotten me." She sighed and turned away from him, rubbing the back of her head. "And after I came all this way to see you too."
"You didn't give me a chance," Yugi countered. "I was trying to stop you from crushing me."
Behind them Anzu cleared her throat loudly, getting Yugi and Learra's attention. "You know her Yugi?" she asked. She was obviously waiting for an introduction.
"Ah, I'm sorry guys," Yugi said as he turned to face them. "Guys, this is my friend Learra Shino. She moved to Egypt nine years ago with her father." He turned to Learra now and introduced his friends, gesturing to each in turn. "This is Katsuya Jonouchi, Anzu Mazaki, and Hiroto Honda."
"Yeah, I remember meeting Anzu a couple of times. Though we weren't that close, were we?" she said, directing her comment at Anzu.
Now that she thought about it, Anzu realized she had in fact met Learra on a few occasions. "No, we weren't," she confirmed. "Actually, I had kinda forgotten about you until now."
"Don't worry about it," Learra shrugged. "It's not like you and I hung out much." She then turned to Jonouchi and Honda, looking them over carefully. "And you two..." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Never met you." Learra then turned away from them without a second thought and headed toward the fridge. "You got anything to drink Gramps?"
Jonouchi and Honda looked a little stunned at being brushed off so easily and Yugi and Anzu both suppressed a small laugh at their expressions.
"So what brings you back to Japan, Learra?" Yugi asked as the girl continued to rummage through the fridge.
"My dad passed away a few weeks ago from a heart condition so I decided to come back to Japan, since we still have our house here, with all the utilities and whatnot paid for by the museum." Learra's father had been an accomplished archeologist and he had always made sure to send some of his most important finds to the local museum here. In way of thanks and pay, they had covered all of their living costs while they lived here, but they had decided to move to Egypt to be closer to her fathers work. Now that he was gone, she had decided it would be easier to live here.
"And I wanted to see you again. We've barely spoken in nine years and I missed you." Behind her she heard Jonouchi snicker, probably purposely mistaking the meaning of what she had said. Placing the drink she had just retrieved on the counter she turned around to correct him but then froze, her eyes finally falling on the Millennium Puzzle. Her face went completely blank and she clenched her fists at her sides, her knuckles turning white.
"Learra?" His friends sudden change in demeanour startled Yugi. Her face was blank but her body was tense. Had he done something to upset her?
"What's that around your neck?" she asked, her voice flat.
"Oh, this?" Yugi's face lit up as he held up the Millennium Puzzle. "It's called the Millennium Puzzle. It's a puzzle that was unearthed in a dig in Egypt. Apparently it's from ancient times." He didn't want to say much more then that, deciding to keep the true nature of the puzzle between himself and those who already knew. Silently Learra stepped forwards and reached a hand out, just barely touching the Millennium Puzzle.
And then everything stopped. Everything stopped moving; the people in the house were completely still, not even seeming to breath; even the air seemed dead. Then it was like a veil was being drawn over her eyes. All the colours in the room seemed to dim, as if shadows had silently taken over from the light. Moving her head slowly, she looked around, relieved she wasn't frozen in the same suspended animation as everyone else.
When she turned around, she was no longer standing in the kitchen of Yugi's house, but somewhere else entirely. Her instincts told her she was inside someone else's mind, someone else's soul. It was a familiar sensation, one she had first experienced almost nine years ago. Turning around again, she was faced with only Yugi, though he seemed completely different. She knew he was a different person entirely.
"Who are you?" she demanded, wariness making her voice hard.
"I should be the one asking you that," he said. "How did you come to be within my soul?"
"How did I..." She trailed off in disbelief. When she had touched the Millennium Puzzle she had felt something pulling at her mind, trying to draw her into the puzzle. She had been convinced that this was his doing. Or maybe it had been one of her Shadows. Then again, he could just be toying with her, trying to confuse her or throw her off her guard. She wanted to ask him which one it was, but instead she said "So you're the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle."
"You know of the Millennium Items?" he asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
Learra was shocked. He should know full well what she knew about the Millennium Items. "You have no idea what I am, do you?" she said, her voice quiet in disbelief.
The other Yugi studied her intently for a moment before speaking. "Here, in the soul, everything that you are is laid bare for all to see. You cannot hide what you truly are, even if you wanted to. In you, I see darkness covering everything, but your heart is pure. You would never cause harm to someone you deem a friend, and you definitely seem to think of Yugi as a friend. No matter what you think I should think of you, and despite the shadows that enshroud you, I will trust you. You won't betray your heart."
Then suddenly everything was back to normal, and no time seemed to have passed at all. Her hand still just barely touched the Millennium Puzzle as Yugi held it up, though the three behind them still looked at her with curious expressions. Withdrawing her hand, Learra looked around in confusion, a little disoriented from the sudden change in scenery.
"Is something wrong, Learra?" Anzu asked.
She turned back to the others again and this time her normal smiling face was now in place. "Do you know what time it is? There's an electrician coming over and I need to be there," she lied. In truth, she just wanted to be away from the puzzle. Seeing a clock on the wall, she glanced at it and pretended to read the time. "Sorry, guys," she apologized. "I've gotta go. I'll see you later though." She waved to them as she hurried out the door into the street.
Releasing the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, she began to short walk back to her place. She was still a little unsettled from her meeting with the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, as well as finding the puzzle in the first place. She had never thought that it could end up in her friends possession.
As she opened the door to her house, she felt her heart began to ache, but quickly forced herself to calm down and forget everything, at least for the moment. Stripping, she stepped into the shower and let the water run over her, clearing away her thoughts. She couldn't allow herself to linger on the minor details, like who was in possession of the puzzle, or how the spirit had reacted to her. None of that mattered.
She stayed in the steaming shower for a good half hour before finally shutting off the water, stepping out and wrapping a towel around herself. Looking at herself in the mirror she realized she had forgotten to wash the makeup off her face before she stepped under the water and now her face was streaked with black, purple and silver. Taking up a washcloth she cleaned away her ruined makeup before leaving the bathroom. She didn't bother to dry her hair and just left it down, dripping behind her as she walked.
When she entered the kitchen the phone rang and everything became all business. Picking up the phone she answered it quickly. "Learra." She was silent for a moment, listening to the voice on the other end. Behind her two men entered the house, each appearing to be at least five years older then herself. Their presence neither alarmed nor startled her; she had been expecting them since they had been sent with her from Egypt and would be staying at her house. "I've located the bearer of the Millennium Puzzle. No, we haven't found anything on any of the other items at this time." She looked over at the two men as she said this last part and they shook their heads, confirming what she had just said. Learra listened to the caller for a moment more before answering. "Yes, I will be able to carry out my mission. Consider the bearer of the Millennium Puzzle dead."