A/N: Hey, welcome to the sequel to Edge of the Night. If you haven't read it yet, you should really go do that before you read this. You'll be really confused if you don't.
Anyways, yeah, welcome back to this story! I'm very happy to finally be posting it, so I made it a Christmas present to myself and all of you! (I don't actually celebrate Christmas but w/e, maybe you guys do!) I hope you all enjoy, and be sure to tell me what you think!
It was odd to be here again, Malik thought.
Well, no, it wasn't so much odd to be here as it was odd that it was so incredibly empty. Valhalla, their little Hall of the Gods, was usually so bustling with life nowadays… Odd, in and of itself, when one put thought to it, because the real meaning of Valhalla was "Hall of the Dead".
But, yes, he thought it was odd to be here when it was so… Desolate.
Of course, it was not empty. It never was. But this was still, for want of a better word, odd. It had been nearly 18 months, now, since he'd last stood in this room alone with the other Kings. They'd had the others with them every time they'd come here, since. There was nothing they couldn't share with those four.
It must have been pretty damn important if Yugi had thought they needed to meet privately.
"Alright," He sighed, sitting rather rigidly on his chaise. For once, he felt nervous. Unsure. "I'm here."
Ryou shifted on his cushions. He was sitting up, legs tucked up under him. His hair was messy. He looked like he'd just gotten out of bed - unsurprising, seeing as it was currently 4 in the morning (and the only reason Malik, himself, didn't seem as tired as he was was because he'd already been up prior to Yugi calling him). "Lovely," He yawned weakly, "Then we can get started and I can go back to bed soon."
Yugi just sighed and twiddled his thumbs, nodding. "Yes, yes, I know it's early and it's weird to call a private meeting, but I wanted you two to know this information first… With no chance of anyone else hearing."
Ryou made a face at that. "What information is so important that it needs to be confidential?"
"It's not so much that it's important as it is that it's… Frightening. And I don't want to startle anyone else yet."
"Fine, lay it on us." Malik scowled slightly.
"Fine." Yugi's firm, blank expression was all-too familiar. It was his business face. The face he made when he didn't want his emotions in the way.
He hadn't made it in something like 8 months, so seeing it was rather disconcerting, to Malik. A lot of things were disconcerting to him, at the moment, though, so he couldn't be sure if it was because of how long it had been or just general discomfort with the entire situation he was currently in.
"Well?" Ryou prompted, voice lacking any venom, though it was surely meant to house some.
"Zorc is going to come back."
Malik's heart stopped.