Chapter Two
Birds twittered just outside Yugi's window. Amon sat there, in her spirit form, marveling at how life circled on through all hardships. She looked over at Yugi, who was able to sleep in late this morning. She'd figured out the school schedule by herself, surprising Atem suitably.
The boy tossed suddenly in his sleep, then cried out. Amon left the sill, startled. She laid a hand on Yugi's shoulder, and he woke, panting. He looked over his bed sheets at her, then relaxed.
"That was a bad night-memory, yes?" She asked. Yugi grinned at her use of words.
"Its called a nightmare when it's a bad night-memory," He simplified for her, and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with a yawn. She nodded, and unconsciously added the new word to her vocabulary.
"And, to your question, it was. From what I remember, about a duel with Bakura's dark side, and he was winning." Amon clicked her tongue sympathetically. She knew how much the game meant to Yugi, even though she couldn't understand a wink of it herself.
Yami was standing beside her then.
"You shouldn't be out of the Puzzle this much." He complained, and she smiled.
"Don't worry about me so much. I'm fine. In fact, I just saved Yugi from a bad night...whatcha-call-it." Amon pouted.
"Nightmare." Yugi put in, and grinned at Atem. He smiled back grudgingly.
What was it about this time?
"That Dark Game with Bakura's dark half. We were losing this time, and I was in the Graveyard, and Death was coming. I could see you dueling through the clouds, and you lost the moment I was about to be killed for good."
Yami winced, and turned to look out the window. Amon cocked her head at this.
"Aren't you going to console him"? Yami looked at her, his red eyes piercing her to the core.
"He'll be alright." He said simply.
Yugi ruffled Amon's spirit-hair playfully. "Atem's right. Nightmares aren't something that can hurt anything other than your pride."
Amon nodded, and poked Yugi in the shoulder hard enough to push him backwards into the bed. He giggled, and rolled out the other side.
"I'll be out in a sec, guys." He said as he grabbed his clothes off the back of a chair and walked into that bathroom.
Yami stared out the window for a few moments, then spoke, seemingly to nothing in particular.
"You don't need to take everything so seriously. Things like nightmares and birds singing are not things to exert so much energy on. The important thing is to find our lost memories and defeat the Dark." He sounded so serious himself then that Amon felt like a spoiled child who's been reprimanded for having too much fun or breaking something.
"I'm sorry, Atem. Its just-" She looked out the window with a sigh, "These new things are so amazing...sometimes I just want to see everything and make sense of it. This world you and Yugi live in is so confusing. "He looked at her now. She couldn't see any compassion or caring in those slanted, otherworldly eyes, but some aspect of understanding lurked in his face.
"You learn very quickly. The time has come that I have to teach you about Duel Monsters. It is our life, and so must also be yours. Its very confusing, but I believe you can do it. We may need your help in a duel soon, so you need to pay attention. Got it?"
"Yes, Atem-kun. "He didn't seem to notice the lightly veiled sarcasm in her voice.
"Ok you two, I'm ready!" Yugi burst out of the bathroom wearing his usual weekend wear; leather pants, and a black sleeveless top.
"Ready for what?" Amon asked, and Yugi shrugged.
"Ready for the day, I suppose." He sat on the bed next to Amon. Yami looked out the window again, deep in thought. Amon rolled her eyes; he was so serious all the time. She fiddled with the chain on the Puzzle absently, moving her fingers over the miniscule cracks in the Puzzle's golden shell. Yugi was eyeing her curiously.
"What're you doing?"
"Hmm?" She wasn't really listening. She flumped back on the bed.
"I'm just sort of bored, is all. Its no fun being a spirit; I can't do anything in the real world."
"You get used to it," Yami put in. Amon groaned.
"How can you be so indifferent?" She said, throwing her hands up in the air. "The world goes on out there? Do you even look at it?" She resented saying that; he was looking outside. He seemed to be ignoring her anyways. She stared at the ceiling; it was more interesting than Atem at any rate.
The man in question sighed.
"We'd better get back into the Puzzle. Yugi needs to do his chores." Yami looked pointedly at Yugi, and the boy nodded.
"I guess I'd better. Grandpa will get mad at me if I don't."
"Oh come on, Atem. I don't want to go back in there. Its so boring, and you can't see the outside. "She didn't have any more time than that to complain about the conditions before her hand was grabbed and the room swam.
She leaned back against the cool metal wall, and closed her eyes. They were tired for some reason. And sore. She breathed heavily out her nose, and started tapping one nail after the other on the floor, making a repetitive clicking sound. It seemed to be driving Atem up the wall, for the look he gave her was nothing less than instant death. She grinned sheepishly and stopped. He visibly relaxed, but she felt only more stress because she couldn't do anything with her hands. She toyed with one of the strands, wrapping it around her finger like string.
"Take a walk if you're bored," Yami advised. He himself looked to be starting a jaunt of his own.
"I guess. There's nothing else to do." She pushed herself off the floor. They began to walk together, one or the other occasionally bringing up some interesting topic about the real world.
"We still have to find your soul room, you know," Atem interrupted, and stopped his pace. Amon took a few more steps before she realized Yami'd stopped, and paused herself.
"What do I need to do to find it?" She asked, her face contorted slightly with worry. She didn't want to have to do anything that involved pain. She voiced this question, but Yami nodded.
"It'll hurt a bit if you find it, but the room is just drawing off a bit of your soul so it knows what kind of room you'll need. Mine, for instance, has dark corridors and suppressed memories of when I was Pharaoh. Yugi's has mostly copies of objects from real life."
"Pharaoh?" She asked. His red eyes widened a bit, then softened.
"I never told you, did I?" He shook his head, swaying the spikes of yellow-blonde hair. "I was told by an old acquaintance – a soul reborn from my lost memories – that I was once the Pharaoh of Egypt; 3000 years ago. An evil god named Zork Necrophidius was trying to take over my position as Pharaoh, and then of course the world. I evidently sealed both of our souls inside the Millennium Pieces, erasing my memories in the process. Yugi and I are in the process of finding them again."
"Maybe something similar happened to me," Amon whispered. A single tear fell down her face as they began to walk again, and she brushed it off hurriedly lest Atem notice.
"Are you alright?" Yami asked, mild concern in his voice.
"Fine." She almost snapped. "Lets go find that soul room."
"Its here. It has to be. The feeling is so strong." Amon placed a hand on the door, slowly dragging it to the ornate handle. She pressed, hard.
The pain was the most intense thing she ever remembered feeling.
It vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and Amon stood facing into a room that seemed to be pulled directly from her minds eye.
The whole room seemed to be outside. Trees were everywhere, and flowering bushes lined a rough stone path. She began to walk, Yami following her in silent awe. The path ended at a large pile of pillows, which seemed to be her bed. Just beyond that were dozens of stacks of books, all thick; looking like slowly read, descriptive books. Blankets were piled neatly near those, along with a set of silken pajamas and a nightgown. The 'soul-scan' hadn't seemed to pick up which had been her preference. A computer on a desk was hidden behind tall grasses.
"Oh," She gasped, "Its perfect." She turned around to ask Yami if he thought so, but he had already headed for the door. She shook her head ruefully.
That man has pride like...like a.... Oh shoot, I can't remember the word. Amon thought, and sat cross legged on the pillows, grabbing a book. She couldn't understand some of the words, but the feeling that she knew, and at the same time didn't, snuck through, and her conscience filled in the blanks.
I think I may begin to like this place, with time.
