Please read to fill future gaps in the story-
-Sorry, couldn't get into the voice of the characters very well.
-The store clerk is the boss and the employee, ok?
-And FYI- I like Chinese food, so I meant no offense to anyone, k?
-And malformed is a word for those of you who are like me and didn't know. (malformed and deformed mean the same thing, come from the same word, and have synonymous prefixes. Why do they that???)
K, story time!!
Yuugi trotted in front of his friends, kicking his legs out merrily as the four chatted down the length of the sidewalk.
"I'm hungry!" moaned the petite child, taking his hands from behind his head to comfort his neglected stomach. He smiled as he saw the others nod in agreement behind him and jumped to a stop, his tri-colored hair swishing at the change in direction.
"Let's go to Burger World!" he exclaimed, his arms stretched open and his mauve eyes gleaming in anticipation as the thought of a scrumptious, hot cheeseburger overwhelmed his previous idle contemplations.
"Aw, Yuug, we went d'ere five times dis week already," grumbled Jounouchi, a slight hint of dread in the blonde's tawny eyes. It wasn't that he hated burgers, in fact he enjoyed them quite a bit. But his last experience in that place hadn't left good impressions, as an escaped convict had held the entire restaurant hostage and Jounouchi had been forced to spend his lunch staring in terror at some fat guy's butt. He didn't have an appetite for cheeseburgers after that 'pleasant' little experience. "Let's go somewhere else fer today."
"How bout Pizza Palace?" suggested Honda, casually looping his arm onto the agitated mutt's neck as he dipped his head, causing his pointy hair to poke Jou's cheek. His navy clad arm, however, was quickly thrown off.
"Nah, I dun' like dat place," retorted Jou. "Bad service."
"What about the new Chinese restaurant? It's really close." Yuugi tried helpfully, which of course won a simultaneous scoff from the former bullies as they began to instruct the smaller boy of the dangers of consuming such the foreign substance known as Chinese "food".
The fourth member of their party sighed. The boys could never agree; at this rate, they would be stuck out here all day, arguing. She spun away from them to stare at the robust sports cars passing at her right and slowly proceeded forward, passive to the fact that the rest of the group was too involved in their tiff to notice her escape. Personally, she would love to return to Burger World. It was there that she had first met that deep-voiced gentleman, her hero who disappeared and left her with neither name nor face when he had saved her from that drunken villain; indeed, during the same incident that drove away Jounouchi. Such a place held no bitter memories for her.
Yet she knew that waiting at the restaurant held no benefit for her; she had already found her knight in shining armor. Literally glistening. She paused in her meandering and glanced back to Yuugi, at least a few heads shorter than his two companions and flailing his arms in frustration at their fickleness. As he did his jacket's sleeve hooked onto the edge of his chained pendant and swung it up into the gentle wind where it kissed the sun in a dazzling display. Yes, that was him.
The girl stared at the golden pyramid, tracing its outline in her mind: its centered Egyptian eye, the clamps about its corners and tip, the etched veins that demonstrated its true nature as a mere puzzle, a child's toy. But she was certain; it was this that acted as a vessel for her hero. She had seen it in action, seen it emit threatening light to those who held in their hearts ill intent toward Yuugi and his acquaintances while engulfing the friends in a strong and comforting luminescence; with this, the unique circumstances from their first encounter and testimony from Yuugi pertaining to frequent memory loss, she had puzzled it all together.
The girl grinned at the sight of the midget telling the two older boys off once their argument had become more abusive to each other. Unfortunately, she was the only one. Not even Yuugi was aware of his alter ego—the only obstacle between her and her crush. She groaned and walked over to the trio muttering something about immature brats beneath her peppermint breath. She knew she just had to wait for Yuugi to catch up to himself, but with all due respect, the boy just wasn't savvy to such things. And honestly, she was having a hard time restraining herself. He would have to figure it out soon or she'd have t—
The woman paused, a passing image coursing through her thoughts and demanding her full attention. She back tracked a bit until she stood in front of reality's interpretation of the memory now firmly stationary inside her head.
No way.
"Anzu!" Yuugi called over his shoulder, finally taking note of the fact that his friend had wandered off without them and was now rigidly perpendicular to a nearby shop. He ran up to her to locate the problem, as did Honda and Jounouchi.
"Hey, Anzu, what are you doing?" he wondered aloud, drawing up alongside her. THE SECRET ROOM he read in block letters across the display window which Anzu was stationed at. Behind the glass gleamed several seemingly ancient trinkets: old astronomical tools, bent silver spoons, tattered books with torn binding, dusty porcelain dolls in their neat little gowns and the like. Centre to the whole exhibit was a dull copper canteen, rust chewing at its neck and a strange consistent musk set about it which gave the whole thing an even greater foreboding feeling.
Yuugi turned his attention once again to his female friend, starting as she mechanically turned towards him.
"We must go inside," she demanded, eyes clouded over with stubborn desire. The rest gave another collective sigh and shook their heads. Lately, Anzu had such a love for superstitious stuff; it almost seemed to be a fatal illness.
Seeing their reluctance, the girl began to beg. Her eyes could have passed for diamonds they were so bright.
"Please? We can just pop in here and then we can decide on which restaurant to go to, ok? Please Yuugi?" she whined, her attention now pin-pointed to the weakest in the group. Why waste her voice ordering around the two brainless boys when she could manipulate the littler one with a mere look?
Yuugi glanced at her suspiciously, then laughed in defeat. "Sure Anzu," he consented, striding over to the elderly glass door and creaking it open. The others followed in suit, Anzu darting in second of course and poor frightened Jounouchi occupying the rear.
"N-Ne, Honda, d'ya tink dere are g-ghosts i' here?" he mumbled nervously once they had entered, tugging at the other's shoulder as if it could protect him from his phantoms.
Honda paused a bit in anticipation, then slowly turned to face the trembling puppy, mock shadows flashing across his satanic visage.
"Sure are Jou." He chuckled a bit as the boy stared at him with evident terror.
"…L-l-lia'."
"Oh, but don't you think this is the perfect place?" At this Honda raised his arms to indicate the creaking wooden shelves which carried everything from pickled eyes to demented figurines to rusty daggers, old blood flaking off them through the murky shadowed glow radiating at the window. Shattered barrels of rotting scrolls and icy stones lay split about the floor and from what free space the walls were granted jutted grotesque masks and statues, which, shrouded in darkness from the overshadowing shelves, seemed to come alive, their eyes constantly following the rise and fall of the intruder's chest in envy and their mouths salivating at the pulse of his neck. "I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than just ghosts here."
""S…'s not funny H-Honda," shivered the poor traumatized child, pulling away from the storyteller to wrap his arms around his green jacket in self defense. But Honda merely smirked down at his friend and continued. It was Jou's fault for letting himself be afraid. And besides, this was too comical to let slide.
He was plotting his next scheme when Anzu spoiled the moment with her loud mouth. Stupid girls.
Still, both boys answered her summon and strolled up to Anzu and Yuugi, who were hovering over a decaying, dust choked counter that slid up to both the boys' waists (Yuugi's forehead).
Yuugi propped himself onto his tiptoes and rang the small bell atop the counter, wondering if there was anyone, anything in this dump that had the capacity to answer. Anzu eagerly aided him in his curiosity.
"Hello~o~o~o!" she sang into the abyss of curtain hanging as a makeshift door behind the furniture. She frowned as playful silence bounded up to greet her. Dang, she had been looking forward to this.
"Hello?"
"Hello!" Anzu jumped back in surprise at the sudden outburst, along with her friends. So loud!
A man popped up from behind the blackened counter, grinning like a Cheshire cat at his unexpectedly juvenile customers, his charcoal eyes crinkled with delight from behind his black framed glasses. Inside his pink ear snuggly sat a navy eatphone, its partner insecurely swishing back and forth on his white shirt, topped by a black apron slathered in grease and food stains.
"Well well. Don't get many young folks your age round here," he yelled, ducking behind the barrier to retrieve an old fashioned clock. He slammed it down on the counter and smiled again as dust erupted into the air. "What can I getcha?"
Anzu, still coughing from the upturned filth, seemed too appalled at the sight of the slob to reply. She just held her stance and glared unsurely at the storeowner. But Yuugi, seeing her dilemma, decided to answer for her.
"We're sorry to intrude, mister, but my friend," he accented this by gesturing to Anzu, "is really interested in mystic stuff."
"Mystic stuff?" asked the guy, questioning the purple eyed boy with is gaze.
"Ya know, like fortune tellin' or palm readin' an' stuff," input Jounouchi, gazing off to the side as if he didn't share Anzu's interested in the topic.
"Oh!" exclaimed the man, pounding his fist into his palm. "Well, I do have some practice in soul seeing."
"Soul seeing?" asked Yuugi.
"Yup. It's like palm reading and fortune telling, only we don't use a ball," he explained, jabbing at his chest. "We use this."
"Wah, your arpon?" Jou laughed, and earned a smack across the head from Anzu, who was apparently growing curious about this "soul seeing."
"No, here," the storeowner replied, repeating the gesture for emphasis. "The soul.
"The soul?" questioned Anzu. "How?"
"Ah," started the man, holding up a finger. "See, a long time ago I found this weird bottle with an ornament stuck on it. Out of curiosity I drank the red stuff inside and went to this strange room, which someone later told me was called a soul room." As he narrated, the clerk resumed tinkering with the greasy clock, polishing it and tweaking its mechanical components just a bit. "I saw a big dusty room, with yellow and orange paint peeling off the walls. There were a lot of desks and tables with books and paper and a garbage can sitting at their left with a bunch of chains and knives in it. But there was also a picture of my family in the trashcan, and the frame was cracked. When I took it up and looked at it, it didn't even reflect me like regular glass should. It was then that I figured I was dreaming. As I walked further into the room, I saw that there were tables beyond the paperwork which had picture frames turned upside down. When I turned one over I saw the face of a girl I had dated a while back. I started turning them all over one by one, recognizing a few faces here and there, the others I had forgotten long ago, when suddenly I was back on planet Earth, just laying there on the grass, the bottle beside me. When I looked up I saw a creepy Egyptian man with a turban and everything standing in front of me. He asked me what I saw so I told him. And he told me that the peeling of the paint and the fact that it was yellow meant that my life had gone from happy and exciting to dull. The tables full of books and paper showed my up-most devotion to school and the fact that they were first to be seen meant that I had been putting school before my relationships. The trashcan held my old life, he said, and that was why my reflection didn't show. Because if I kept going like this I was going to loose my family." Here he paused as if hesitant, then snapped a gear back into place and continued. "But when I told him that the room wasn't pitch black, he said that I could make things better, that it wasn't too late. Said that's the worst thing that could happen to a soul. So I made up with my family and got a real girlfriend. And look where I ended up." The lonely owner thrust his arms into the air to indicate the place's condition, then returned to his work.
The store was silent between the occasional clink or squeak from the old mechanic's clock as he finished his tale. Not even Jounouchi or Honda spoke, though it was more from the pressure flooding the room rather than contemplation of the story. It was so quiet that nobody even noticed the mystic freak as she leaned in excitedly and grasped the man's hand.
"Show me!" she blurted imploringly, her eyes shining with madness. "I want to try it!"
The storeowner laughed at her eagerness and shifted his project aside.
"I'll be right back," he replied, a joyful glint in his eye as he slipped behind the curtain. Obviously not a lot of people had been willing to try it before.
"Anzu, ar' ya' crazy?" raged the blonde when their host had disappeared. "D'ja here dat guy?"
"Yeah," agreed Honda. "It sounded more like a drug trip than a mystical thing."
"Shut up!" replied Anzu hotly, crossing her arms in defiance. For extra measure, she added, "I suppose you two would know all about that, wouldn't you?"
"Aw, sure, jus' cause we use'ta be delinquents means we auta'matically do drugs," complained Jou.
Yuugi, unsure what to do about the rift forming between his lifelong friend and his two new ones, just stood there and mumbled to the heated debaters. Of course he didn't think the syrup was dangerous, but he didn't think it would work either. These types of people were just con artists. He only hoped that this man wasn't so extreme as to give them drugs to prove his point. It wasn't probable, he had appeared to be a kind person, but it was possible nonetheless.
The man appeared in two minutes' time, bearing a large cream flask in his bear-like hands.
Anzu cut off her argument with the boys, leaving them to play with their empty victory, and whipped around to the counter.
The man took out a little plastic cup from behind the furniture and poured a thick, lumpy liquid from the urn into the container.
"Would any of your friends like to try it too?" he asked her, setting another cup out on the revolting surface in preparation.
"Yuugi?" inquired Anzu sweetly yet expectantly, purposely ignoring the other two as she turned towards her favorite victim.
Yugi paled and took another look at the bubbling blood clotting inside the cups. No, please dear Lord no, he prayed silently to himself. But when he looked at the girl's overpowering pout and thought about the talk of potential drugs, he consented reluctantly. He wouldn't make Anzu go through this alone.
"Okay. I'll give it a shot."
"Great," smiled the man, filling another cup and sliding the pair towards the two.
"Yuugi!" protested Jounouchi as the small boy lifted the liquid dutifully to his lips.
"Don't worry, Jou," replied the frail child, smiling like the martyr he was. "It's not poisoned."
Anzu shot the two bullies a meaningful look at that parting remark and quickly chugged her portion of the potion. Yuugi followed closely in suit— better to get it over with.
A minute later he was crumpled atop the wooden floor, his lifeless figure barely three feet from Anzu's cold carcass.
(Flashback of about, oh, a minute and ½ ago)
As the had substance slid over his lips and down his throat, the first detail that Yuugi realized was that contrary to its previous appearance, the liquid felt as smooth as silk. Secondly, it felt and tasted extraordinary. It was refreshingly cool and retained the flavor of a strawberry/raspberry smoothie; not only that, but heaven itself seemed to be slipping through Yuugi's system as the concoction seeped deeper and deeper into his body. But soon it trickled down to what felt like the core of his being and agony erupted into his veins. It shot throughout his legs and arms and into his head, where it stabbed mental needles through his mind. Yuugi couldn't control his trembling body, finding it quaking as if it might burst from the anguish it restricted. He sank to the ground in lack of strength, all of his muscles instead trying to bear the unearthly torture, his mind's cogs becoming overheated with all the spinning that was required of them as he attempted to discover a method of pain alleviation. I'm going to die, he realized.
Yuugi could vaguely make out the brown haired school boy above him; barely feel the urgent dig of his fingers and the delirious panic in his shouts as the quaking boy sank further and further into himself. He could feel reality ebbing away but found that he didn't care. Something much better was pulling at him, away from the hellish sensations; he could feel it vigorously suck him in but he knew he wouldn't resist it. It felt too good, too safe to be dangerous.
After all, that is where one goes when he upset—into himself. Into his soul. It is the only real safe haven in a world that has the capacity of deception, a world which seeks pain and wrong doing. Yuugi had experienced that much.
In the logical sequence of events, it would seem that the ultimate crime of the world would be to control the soul right? And the only way for that to happen would be if an agent of the world were to enter another's soul.
Luckily for us the world says it's impossible.
I used dramatic irony! My teacher would be proud.